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Ohiogal

(31,977 posts)
Mon Jul 1, 2019, 11:58 AM Jul 2019

Freak summer hailstorm buries Guadalajara, Mexico, in up to 5 feet of ice - incredible photos

What the hail?

One of Mexico’s most populous cities got hit with a freak summer hailstorm on Sunday, burying dozens of cars and damaging hundreds of homes.

The city had been enjoying balmy temperatures of more than 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) before the sudden storm pelted the city of around 5 million people with hail — frozen precipitation that forms balls or irregular lumps of ice — that piled between three to five feet in some places, according to varying reports.

Authorities told the BBC that 200 homes were damaged and at least 50 vehicles were swept away in the city and surrounding districts. No casualties were reported.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/freak-summer-hailstorm-buries-guadalajara-mexico-in-up-to-5-feet-of-ice-see-the-incredible-photos-2019-07-01?mod=hp_minor_pos21

21 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Freak summer hailstorm buries Guadalajara, Mexico, in up to 5 feet of ice - incredible photos (Original Post) Ohiogal Jul 2019 OP
Stunning indeed malaise Jul 2019 #1
Here is photo USALiberal Jul 2019 #2
Another photo! tblue37 Jul 2019 #3
More: tblue37 Jul 2019 #4
Ice...will suffice. LuvNewcastle Jul 2019 #5
How Frost-y of you to notice Hekate Jul 2019 #18
oh climate change you scamp! nt Javaman Jul 2019 #6
+1,000,000 Auggie Jul 2019 #9
Wow!! NT SWBTATTReg Jul 2019 #7
Is anyone here thinking about a certain someone? demmiblue Jul 2019 #8
This message was self-deleted by its author Brother Buzz Jul 2019 #11
... demmiblue Jul 2019 #16
It's Deja Vu All Over Again Brother Buzz Jul 2019 #17
Who knew a Chinese hoax could cause this? ProudLib72 Jul 2019 #12
I'll bet they don't see this much ice in winter, let alone summer! FakeNoose Jul 2019 #10
holy smokes AllaN01Bear Jul 2019 #13
It's like watching 2012 or Day After Tomorrow. Weird weather anomalies followed by major world Pisces Jul 2019 #14
That is freaky! smirkymonkey Jul 2019 #15
The photos in this thread are stunning Hekate Jul 2019 #19
This message was self-deleted by its author cannabis_flower Jul 2019 #20
This is what caused the freak Guadalajara hail storm Brother Buzz Jul 2019 #21

FakeNoose

(32,630 posts)
10. I'll bet they don't see this much ice in winter, let alone summer!
Mon Jul 1, 2019, 01:58 PM
Jul 2019

People are starting to believe in climate change now, at least in Guadalajara they believe.

Pisces

(5,599 posts)
14. It's like watching 2012 or Day After Tomorrow. Weird weather anomalies followed by major world
Mon Jul 1, 2019, 02:03 PM
Jul 2019

Cataclysmic disaster,

Response to Ohiogal (Original post)

Brother Buzz

(36,416 posts)
21. This is what caused the freak Guadalajara hail storm
Mon Jul 1, 2019, 07:15 PM
Jul 2019
This is what caused the freak Guadalajara hail storm

July 1, 2019




Soaring temperatures, high elevation and a slew of other ingredients all collided to create the freak hail storm that hit Guadalajara, experts said on Monday.

Residents of Mexico’s second-largest city woke up in shock Sunday to find that nearly 5 feet of hail had accumulated in some areas, trapping cars and damaging hundreds of homes.

“I’ve never seen such scenes in Guadalajara,” Jalisco Gov. Enrique Alfaro told Agence France-Presse. “These are never-before-seen natural phenomenons. It’s incredible.”

Hail usually occurs during thunderstorms when updrafts carry warm, moist air above the freezing level, condensing it. A hailstone grows as additional water freezes onto it, and eventually becomes too heavy and falls to the ground.

In Guadalajara, which has temperatures nearing 90 in June, more moisture is available, contributing to hailstorms.

The city is situated at 5,000 feet above sea level, and “higher elevation means you are closer to the freezing level, so it’s more common to see hail,” said Accuweather meteorologist James Andrews.

“What’s special about this, is the intensity of the storm and the huge amount of hail that it brought,” he said. “It’s staggering.”

In Sunday’s case, the storm occurred in the early morning, when it was about 60 degrees, and the hail core sat above the same spot for a significant amount of time, Andrews said.

“If you have intense hail falling along with rain and its happening in the same place for an extended length of time, you’re going to get tremendous runoff.”

A combination of water and hail moved downslope, because of the local topography, and obstacles, like buildings, likely blocked the flow of hail, allowing more ice to accumulate on top.

“Hail depth from the storm [alone] couldn’t have been that strong,” Andrews said. “That great depth could be accounted for that the hail was running off street like in a flash flood and accumulated in a low spot.”

“It may have just been a freaky coincidence of the local layout,” Andrews said.


https://nypost.com/2019/07/01/this-is-what-caused-the-freak-guadalajara-hail-storm/
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