At least six neighborhoods on the outskirts of the city woke up to their streets covered in ice pellets up to two meters deep.
By STEPHANIE WASSERMANA street covered in ice is pictured after a heavy storm of rain and hail in Guadalajara, Mexico June 30, 201(photo credit: REUTERS)
A summer hailstorm struck Guadalajara, one of Mexico’s most populated cities, burying vehicles in ice pellets up to two meters deep, the Guardian reported on Monday.The hailstorm came as a shock to the people of Guadalajara, who had been experiencing summer temperatures around 31 degrees Celsius in recent days.State Governor Enrique Alfaro Ramirez said he’d never seen scenes like this in Guadalajara. “Hail more than a meter high, and then we wonder if climate change exists,” he tweeted yesterday.While seasonal hailstorms do occur, there is no record of anything at this level.At least six neighborhoods on the outskirts of the city woke up to their streets covered in ice pellets up to two meters deep. Nearly 200 homes and businesses reported hail damage, and at least 50 vehicles were swept away by the deluge of ice in hilly areas, some buried under piles of pellets.The government has been working with the Mexican Army and Guadalajara and Tlaquepaque authorities to clean and remove hail from all public roads, the governor said, as well as support citizens whose homes were damaged.No casualties or injuries were reported, but two people showed “early signs of hypothermia,” the state Civil Protection office said.
