Pro-Pluvia Rogation Ceremonies in Extremadura (Spain): Are They a Good Proxy of Winter NAO?

Rogation ceremonies are religious requests to God. Pro-pluvia rogations were celebrated during dry conditions to ask God for rain. In this work, we have recovered 37 pro-pluvia rogations from 14 documentary sources (e.g.,: ecclesiastical manuscripts, books, and different magazines and newspapers). A...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Atmosphere
Main Authors: Nieves Bravo-Paredes, María Cruz Gallego, Fernando Domínguez-Castro, José Agustín García, José Manuel Vaquero
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2020
Subjects:
nao
pro-pluvia rogation ceremonies
proxy
drought
documentary sources
Meteorology. Climatology
QC851-999
North Atlantic
North Atlantic oscillation
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos11030282
https://doaj.org/article/809eaca14ab448f4adc03121a71064f7
Description
Summary:Rogation ceremonies are religious requests to God. Pro-pluvia rogations were celebrated during dry conditions to ask God for rain. In this work, we have recovered 37 pro-pluvia rogations from 14 documentary sources (e.g.,: ecclesiastical manuscripts, books, and different magazines and newspapers). All of the rogations were celebrated in Extremadura region (interior of southwest of Spain) during the period 1824−1931. Climate of Extremadura is strongly dominated by the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). Therefore, pro-pluvia rogations have been associated to the NAO index and the relationship between them has been analyzed. The most relevant results are found in the relationship between pro-pluvia rogations in month n and the positive values of the NAO index for months n -1 and n -2, being statistically significant at 95% confidence level. Thus, the results evidence that the rogation ceremonies of Extremadura are a good proxy for the NAO index.

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