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Photos show freak summer hail storm coating Guadalajara's roads with 5 feet of snow and icehttps://www.businessinsider.in/miscellaneous/photos-show-freak-summer-hail-storm-coating-guadalajaras-roads-with-5-feet-of-snow-and-ice/slidelist/70024310.cms2019-07-01T16:02:40+05:30

Photos show freak summer hail storm coating Guadalajara's roads with 5 feet of snow and ice

Jul 1, 2019, 16:02 IST

Six suburbs in Guadalajara experienced an unexpected, heavy hail storm early Sunday morning, coating the city's highways and streets with up to five feet of ice.

The city had been experiencing hot weather — with temperatures of about 31 C (88 F) — in the days running up to the event.

After the hail storm, cars that had been on the streets were half-submerged in ice. At least 50 cars were swept away by the ice in hilly areas, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

Even large trucks were submerged. This photo shows how high the snow had risen in eastern Guadalajara.

Some people were forced to access cars from above by using a ladder.

Mexican soldiers and civil protection personnel were dispatched from dawn to clear away the ice, Jalisco state governor Enrique Alfaro tweeted.

The onslaught of ice damaged nearly 200 homes and businesses, AFP reported. Here, officials help shovel ice from a building entrance.

Snow plows were also used.

There were reports of flooding in the streets as ice melted.

No deaths or injuries were reported, but two people showed signs of hypothermia, AFP reported, citing civil protection personnel.

Some local residents came out to play after the snow and ice settled.

This girl even made a snow angel.

While seasonal hail storms are not uncommon on Guadalajara, the severity of Sunday's phenomenon was unprecedented. Governor Alfaro tweeted that these were "scenes that I had never seen before."

It remains unclear exactly how the freak weather came about, but Alfaro said: "[With] the hail more than a meter high, we asked ourselves if climate change exists."

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