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'Incredible' summer hailstorm buries Guadalajara under 6 feet of ice | TribLIVE.com
U.S./World

'Incredible' summer hailstorm buries Guadalajara under 6 feet of ice

Bret Gibson
Bret Gibson

Despite high temperatures dominating the start of the summer, people in Guadalajara, Mexico woke up Sunday to an icy existence.

A bizarre hailstorm left the city buried in up to six feet of ice.

Guadalajara, the capital city of Jalisco with a population of almost 1.5 million people, saw at least six of its neighborhoods on the outskirts blanketed in the massive hail accumulation Sunday, Agence France-Presse reported.

Authorities say more than 450 homes were affected by the heavy hail, including some where the ice pushed through doors and windows, according to the local El Informador newspaper.

Residents in the mountainous area, which sits about 350 miles west of Mexico City, reported damage to some 50 vehicles that were swept away by the heavy ice and rain.

Enrique Alfaro Ramirez, the governor of the Jalisco state, posted on Twitter he’d never witnessed scenes like those he saw Sunday morning.

“Then we ask ourselves if climate change is real. These are never-before-seen natural phenomenons,” he said. “It’s incredible.”

According to AFP, although hailstorms aren’t uncommon in the summer in Jalisco, nothing of this magnitude had been recorded. Guadalajara is northwest of Mexico City and is about 5,000 feet above sea level.

While no casualties were reported, two people showed “early signs of hypothermia,” the state Civil Protection office said in a statement.

On Monday, residents of San Miguel de Allende, a high desert community popular with American tourists, awoke to several inches of hail clogging city streets, the Associated Press reported.

Bret Gibson is a TribLive digital producer. A South Hills resident, he started working for the Trib in 1998. He can be reached at bgibson@triblive.com.

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Getty Images
A policeman stands next to vehicles buried in hail in the eastern area of Guadalajara, Jalisco state, Mexico, on June 30, 2019. The accumulation of hail in the streets of Guadalajara buried vehicles and damaged homes.
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Getty Images
A woman and a child walk on hail in the eastern area of Guadalajara, Jalisco state, Mexico, on June 30, 2019. The accumulation of hail in the streets of Guadalajara buried vehicles and damaged homes.
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Getty Images
Vehicles buried in hail are seen in the streets in the eastern area of Guadalajara, Jalisco state, Mexico, on June 30, 2019. The accumulation of hail in the streets of Guadalajara buried vehicles and damaged homes.
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Getty Images
A man with a bike walks on hail in the eastern area of Guadalajara, Jalisco state, Mexico, on June 30, 2019. The accumulation of hail in the streets of Guadalajara buried vehicles and damaged homes.
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Getty Images
A vehicle is seen trapped on June 30, 2019 after a hail storm fell in Guadalajara, Jalisco State, Mexico. A freak hail storm on Sunday struck Guadalajara, one of Mexico’s most populous cities, shocking residents and trapping vehicles in a deluge of ice pellets up to two meters deep.
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Getty Images
People are seen on June 30, 2019 in a street of Guadalajara, Jalisco State, Mexico, after a hail storm fell in the area. A freak hail storm on Sunday struck Guadalajara, one of Mexico’s most populous cities, shocking residents and trapping vehicles in a deluge of ice pellets up to two metres deep.
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Getty Images
Picture of a street of Guadalajara, Jalisco State, Mexico, taken on June 30, 2019 after a hail storm fell in the area. A freak hail storm on Sunday struck Guadalajara, one of Mexico’s most populous cities, shocking residents and trapping vehicles in a deluge of ice pellets up to two meters deep.
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Jalisco State Civil Defense Agency
People take pictures of the streets filled with hail in Guadalajara, Mexico, Sunday, June 30, 2019. Officials in Mexico’s second largest city say a storm that dumped more than a meter of hail on parts of the metropolitan area damaged hundreds of homes.
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Jalisco State Civil Defense Agency
Cars are piled up after a hail storm in Guadalajara, Mexico, Sunday, June 30, 2019. Officials in Mexico’s second largest city say a storm that dumped more than a meter of hail on parts of the metropolitan area damaged hundreds of homes.
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Jalisco State Civil Defense Agency
People work to remove hail from the streets of Guadalajara, Mexico, Sunday, June 30, 2019. Officials in Mexico’s second largest city say a storm that dumped more than a meter of hail on parts of the metropolitan area damaged hundreds of homes.
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