Overview

• The Servicio Meteorológico Nacional warns that conditions are becoming favorable for the annual Santa Rosa storm to develop between August 25 and September 4.
• Meteorologists say updated short-term models will determine the exact day and local impacts of heavy rain and strong winds.
• An OCBA analysis of data from 1906 to 2023 shows Buenos Aires recorded a Santa Rosa storm in 57% of those years within the late-August window.
• Climatologists explain that warm, moisture-rich air from the Atlantic and Amazon colliding with cold fronts and a low-level jet creates the atmospheric instability driving the phenomenon.
• Provinces in central and northeastern Argentina face the highest risk of flooding, fallen trees and lightning, while Patagonia and the northwest rarely experience this storm.