Unusually low temperatures were being recorded in the region -- though nowhere near as low as in North America.
Costa Rica's capital San Jose saw the mercury plunge as low as 10 degrees Celsius (50 degrees Fahrenheit) in parts, far lower than the usual 25 degrees, according to the state meteorological service.
Two homeless men reportedly died from hypothermia in San Jose.
The cold front was a dampener for foreigners who were visiting Central America in its peak tourist period to escape the northern hemisphere's icy winter, leaving beaches lashed by windy gusts, overcast and rainy.
The airline Avianca cancelled several flights leaving Central America for snowed-in New York.
"The cold snap we are feeling from Guatemala to Costa Rica is a polar mass that is affecting the northeast coast of the United States. We are feeling the tail-end of it," Costa Rican state meteorologist Luis Diego Naranjo told AFP.
He said the weather pattern would continue through Sunday, after which temperatures would climb back up toward normal.
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