--- title: Guadalajara, Mexico Covered in Ice After Freak Hailstorm description: Guadalajara residents woke up to a massive hailstorm Sunday that covered several neighborhoods in a layer of ice up to five feet thick. canonical: https://time.com/5618209/guadalajara-mexico-hail-hailstorm/ author: Julia Webster article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-07-01T15:12:31.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:56:52.648Z article:section: Science og:title: Guadalajara Covered in Ice After 'Never-Before-Seen' Hailstorm og:description: Dozens of vehicles were swept away or buried under the ice og:url: https://time.com/5618209/guadalajara-mexico-hail-hailstorm/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt538f4dbe98f21edc/6989ff5c929fad76c5bf48aa/mexico-guadalajara-hailstorm.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Mexico Guadalajara Hailstorm og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Guadalajara Covered in Ice After 'Never-Before-Seen' Hailstorm twitter:description: Dozens of vehicles were swept away or buried under the ice twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt538f4dbe98f21edc/6989ff5c929fad76c5bf48aa/mexico-guadalajara-hailstorm.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Guadalajara Covered in Feet of Ice After 'Never-Before-Seen' Hailstorm by [Julia Webster](/author/julia-webster/) ## Julia Webster Jul 1, 2019 3:12 PM CUT  A policeman stands next to vehicles buried in hail in the eastern area of Guadalajara, Jalisco state, Mexico, on June 30, 2019. A policeman stands next to vehicles buried in hail in the eastern area of Guadalajara, Jalisco state, Mexico, on June 30, 2019.Ulises Ruiz—AFP/Getty Images by [Julia Webster](/author/julia-webster/) ## Julia Webster Jul 1, 2019 3:12 PM CUT Residents of the Mexican city of Guadalajara woke up to a massive hailstorm Sunday that covered several neighborhoods in a layer of ice up to five feet thick in some areas. The hailstorm hit Guadalajara at around 2 a.m. Sunday, the AFP [reports](https://www.afp.com/en/news/826/freak-hail-storm-strikes-mexican-city-guadalajara-doc-1i37591 "undefined"), when the temperature suddenly dropped after what the BBC [says](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-48821306 "undefined") were several days of [high summer heat](https://time.com/5614529/europe-heatwave-climate-change/ "undefined").  Aerial view of vehicles buried in hail in the streets in the eastern area of Guadalajara, Jalisco state, Mexico, on June 30, 2019. Ulises Ruiz—AFP/Getty Images Nobody is reported to have been hurt in the hailstorm, but two people showed “early signs of hypothermia,” according to the state Civil Protection office. Dozens of vehicles were swept away or buried under the ice, and nearly 200 homes and businesses reported hail damage.  A man with a bike walks on hail in the eastern area of Guadalajara, Jalisco state, Mexico, on June 30, 2019. Ulises Ruiz—AFP/Getty Images  Residents play on top of ice after a heavy storm of rain and hail which affected some areas of the city in ​​Guadalajara, Mexico on June 30, 2019. Fernando Carranza—Reuters Local authorities have been working with the Mexican army to clear the roads and help citizens whose homes were damaged in the hailstorm. Guadalajara, one of Mexico’s most populous cities with about 5 million residents, has been hit by hailstorms before, but the severity of Sunday’s event reportedly exceeds all those on record. “Then we ask ourselves if [climate change](https://time.com/5609309/net-zero-emissions-new-york-european-union/ "undefined") is real. These are never-before-seen natural phenomena” said the state governor, Enrique Alfaro, according to the AFP. “It’s incredible.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5618209/guadalajara-mexico-hail-hailstorm/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5618209/guadalajara-mexico-hail-hailstorm/"},"headline":"Guadalajara Covered in Feet of Ice After 'Never-Before-Seen' Hailstorm","datePublished":"2019-07-01T15:12:31.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:56:52.648Z","description":"Dozens of vehicles were swept away or buried under the ice","url":"https://time.com/5618209/guadalajara-mexico-hail-hailstorm/","keywords":["Mexico","weather","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt538f4dbe98f21edc/6989ff5c929fad76c5bf48aa/mexico-guadalajara-hailstorm.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Julia Webster","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/julia-webster/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt538f4dbe98f21edc/6989ff5c929fad76c5bf48aa/mexico-guadalajara-hailstorm.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Mexico Guadalajara Hailstorm","caption":"Mexico Guadalajara Hailstorm","creditText":"Ulises Ruiz—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/mexico/","name":"Mexico"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5618209/guadalajara-mexico-hail-hailstorm/","name":"Guadalajara Covered in Feet of Ice After 'Never-Before-Seen' Hailstorm"}}]}] ```