Historic hailstorm covers the streets of Oaxaca after more than 20 years

The streets and avenues of the oaxaca cityin southern Mexico, were covered in ice after a night full of rain and hail, which had not occurred in more than two decades, according to the department of meteorology of the State Coordination of Civil Protection of the State Government with the same name.

The Civil Protection meteorologist, Cutberto Ruiz Jarquín, reported that it was a local storm, which lasted approximately one hour and 25 minutes, with the presence of hail, which measured approximately the size of a chickpea.

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Hailstorm causes flooding in #Oaxaca.

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The magnitude of the climatic event in Oaxaca

Ruiz pointed out that it was an event that had not been presented for more than 20 years. In the Zócalo of the city of Oaxaca, several families came after the storm to witness the unusual spectacle left by the hail, while residents of the La Cascada neighborhood, located on the banks of the San Felipe river, organized to remove the hail that blocked the roads.

“It surprised us all and we are here avoiding further damage, I do not remember an event like this since the eighties or nineties”said Álvaro Caballero, who lives in Oaxaca City.

Climate change and poor urban planning

This Friday’s hailstorm comes after a long heat wave in the central region of Oaxaca, where temperatures reached more than 40 degrees Celsius. Ruiz commented that he has a lot to do with poor urban planning and deforestation of watersheds and forests.

In addition, he explained that this phenomenon generates greater warming and in cities like Oaxaca, which is a funnel, it becomes a “express pot”since it has accumulated warming, causing the temperature in the city of Oaxaca to have increased up to half a degree in recent years, which said “its alot”.

The consequences of rising temperatures

The climate expert from the government of the southern state of Oaxaca also explained that in recent decades heat waves have lasted one to two days and the last one recorded in this entity lasted almost a week.

This, he added, increases the possibility of local storms like the one that occurred this weekend, as he maintained that “As we get warmer, the possibility of a hail storm, like the one that happened, is potentially more severe.”. The State Coordination of Civil Protection reported that there have been hot spots that have reached up to 43 degrees Celsius in municipalities such as Nejapa de Madero, located in the geographic region of the Sierra Sur, as well as Magdalena Tequisistlán and Jalapa del Marqués, located in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec.