Mexico weather forecast: Will freak hailstorms continue in Guadalajara?
MEXICO’S city of Guadalajara was carpeted in a layer of ice thick enough to bury cars after a freak hailstorm. So will this weather continue?
Six of Guadalajara’s suburbs awoke to find their streets entirely blanketed in ice, despite 30C (86F) temperatures the day before. The build-up was up to five foot (1.5m) thick in parts, with the tops of vehicles just peeping above the ice. Authorities said some 200 homes had been damaged and dozens of vehicles swept away in the city and surrounding districts
Local officials also reported flooding and fallen trees, but no-one is thought to have been hurt.
Two people are showing the “early signs of hypothermia”, authorities said.
Civil protection machinery has been deployed to clear streets in the city of five million located north of Mexico City.
The region has been hit by hail storms before, but never this heavy.
State governor, Enrique Alfaro, said: “I’ve never seen such scenes in Guadalajara.
“Then we ask ourselves if climate change is real.
“These are never-before-seen natural phenomenons. It’s incredible.”
Now, as soldiers and civil protection work to clear the roads, children play in the streets hurling ice balls at each other.
So what is the forecast?
The forecast for the region this week promises warm temperatures and thunderstorms.
No more hail storms are forecast at this stage, but like the most recent one, they could come on suddenly and surprisingly, though it is unlikely.
Temperatures for the rest of the week will be 28C (82F) on average, with showers or thunderstorms in the evenings.
The stormy weather is due to clear up by the weekend, where it will make way for warmer temperatures and cloud cover.