Friday 31 May 2013

Chile Snowstorm Buries Andes

Chile Snowstorm Buries Andes

The heavy storm clouds have left Chile, but not before unloading flooding rain and burying mountain snow.

The storm left one person dead and 231 people injured, the emol.com website said in translation on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, a full meter of new snow was measured by one ski operator near Santiago.

Lifts were open as of Wednesday at Ski Portillo, although the highway linking the slopes to cities in Chile and Argentina was closed, the resort website said.

Snowfall since Monday was put at 39.4 inches, or 100 cm. The storm lifted seasonal snowfall to 49.6 inches, or 126 cm, according to the website.


Ski slopes above Farellones, a resort town along the Andes east of Santiago. Up to one meter of snow buried the area between Monday and Wednesday, May 27-29, 2013. (image credit: Direccion Meteorologica de Chile website)

Resorts at Farellones, east of Santiago, were also hit with heavy snow, although falls were not immediately known.

Flooding was a problem for coastal and valley cities of central Chile, following the two-day rainstorm, which left 50 to about 150 mm (2-6 inches) of rain. "Streets turned into rivers" in Santiago, snarling traffic, emol.com said in translation.

Flooded homes were reported, as was a flooding of coastal roads, owing to a "heavy storm surge."


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