Freak Summer Hail Storm Blankets Mexico's Guadalajara

People in Guadalajara, Mexico, woke up on Sunday to a thick blanket of ice over areas of their city, after a freak hail storm that damaged houses and left cars partially buried.

This is particularly strange because it's the middle of summer. In the past month, temperatures most days have hit 90 degrees Fahrenheit or over.

The Mexican army and local authorities have been deployed to use heavy machinery to dig out the city of nearly 1.5 million people that is the capital of Jalisco state.

"Hail more than a meter high, and then we wonder if climate change exists," Jalisco Gov. Enrique Alfaro Ramírez wrote on Twitter. As of Sunday afternoon, no injuries had been reported, he said, adding that authorities were working to help citizens whose homes were damaged.

"This is a natural phenomenon that we haven't seen before," the governor said in a video posted to Facebook.

In the Rancho Blanco area of the city, which was particularly hard-hit, some 30 vehicles and 60 homes were damaged, Jalisco Civil Protection officials said on Facebook.

It's worth noting that the actual hailstones that hit Guadalajara were rather small — even smaller than a marble, according to the BBC — which might have limited some of the damage.

Hail forms when "thunderstorm updrafts are strong enough to carry water droplets well above the freezing level," according to NASA. These droplets freeze into hailstones that fall to earth.

A CNN meteorologist said a low pressure zone around the U.S.-Mexico border contributed to storm strengthening in the area. "This was a case where atmospheric and topographic ingredients came into play to cause a freakish hail storm," Michael Guy said.

As crews work to clear away the ice, they may get a hand from the weather. Guadalajara is expected to see significant melting on Monday, with likely thunderstorms and temperatures forecast to reach 81 degrees Fahrenheit.

NPR intern Dani Matias contributed to this report. [Copyright 2019 NPR]