Sunday, December 10, 2017
Snow flies in north with first winter storm Eight states affected by snowfall, cold temperatures
Snow flies in north with first winter storm
Eight states affected by snowfall, cold temperatures
The first winter storm of the season continues to bring atypical snowfall to northern Mexico where a carpet of snow now covers parts of the states of Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, Tamaulipas, Zacatecas, Durango and Hidalgo.
Airline flights in Chihuahua were canceled in the cities of Chihuahua and Ciudad Juárez, where many motorists found themselves stranded by snow-covered roads.
In Nuevo León, highways to Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas and Saltillo, Coahuila, were closed to traffic after heavy snowfall stranded an estimated 600 motorists. Temperatures in the greater Monterrey area dropped to below 0 C, a situation repeated throughout the state.
The capital also saw sleet for the first time in 20 years.
At least 15 Tamaulipas municipalities reported snowfall, a phenomenon that kept 90% of children from attending school yesterday.
Zacatecas authorities have raised a general alert and enacted the 2017-2018 Winter Season Contingency Plan, at the ready to respond if needed.
Temperatures as far south as the Tlanchinol sierra in Hidalgo dropped below zero, where snowfall was also reported.
In Saltillo, the capital of Coahuila, the thermometer dipped to seven degrees below zero, and 10 below in the sierra to the east. The temperatures, coupled with the snowfall, forced authorities to close three highways to traffic, all going into Saltillo from Zacatecas, Monclova and Torreón.
It was on the latter highway that conditions caused a bus to roll over, injuring 14 people.
Earlier this afternoon there were more than 2,000 trucks stranded on highway 57 in the municipality of Arteaga, near Saltillo. Traffic began slowing Thursday night due to poor conditions.
Arteaga Mayor Jesús Durán Flores predicted that traffic would remain backed up through the afternoon.
Local Civil Protection officials delivered food and fuel to the stranded vehicles yesterday.
In the municipalities of Monclova and Múzquiz, snowfall reached the 25-centimeter mark, causing the roofs of three schools to collapse. Airports throughout the state had to cancel flights, while the roads to several ejidos were blocked by snow.
In Torreón, residents saw snow for the first time in 20 years.
Coahuila authorities, along with their counterparts in the seven other states, have opened shelters that are being used mostly by homeless people.
Over 700 rations of coffee, hot chocolate, bread and hot soup have been distributed in one of those Coahuila shelters alone, an effort that also includes the distribution of heavy blankets.
Governor Miguel Ángel Riquelme Solís recommended that citizens take all the necessary precautions to protect themselves and stay indoors.
“Let’s stay warm and protected from the cold,” he wrote on Twitter.
Source: El Universal (sp), Milenio (sp)
Mexican's mural atop Hong Kong Island's highest mountain draws attention to 'cocaine of the sea' South China Morning Post “Identity in Mexico is so important, and in Oaxaca maybe too much,” he says. “My parents are from a village where they don't have particularly strong roots, so in the beginning art was for me a way to find my identity.” But now the artist has branched out from his native country to Hong Kong and Asia, and ...
| Mexican's mural atop Hong Kong Island's highest mountain draws attention to 'cocaine of the sea'
“Identity in Mexico is so important, and in Oaxaca maybe too much,” he says. “My parents are from a village where they don't have particularly strong roots, so in the beginning art was for me a way to find my identity.” But now the artist has branched out from his native country to Hong Kong and Asia, and ...
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Oaxaca is No. 5 of places to visit in 2018 National Geographic puts state near the top of Best Trips 2018
Oaxaca is No. 5 of places to visit in 2018
National Geographic puts state near the top of Best Trips 2018
In Mexico, the place to visit next year is Oaxaca, according to National Geographic.
Ranked fifth in the publication’s Best Trips 2018 list, Oaxaca is the only Mexican state to be included.
Readers are advised that “tourists are welcome more than ever in the color-rich Mexican state of Oaxaca, shaken by two powerful September earthquakes.”
The article then goes to describe the local markets found throughout the state, where tourists and shoppers alike can find “dazzlingly vibrant wool rugs and other handmade textiles dyed using fruits, insects and other natural colorants.”
The publication also remarks that “more than a dozen indigenous groups once inhabited the southern region of Mexico now known as Oaxaca,” making the state “one of the most ethnically diverse in the country.”
In the capital city alone, visitors can “discover the confluence of 1,500 years of history and culture.”
Interviewed by the news website e-oaxaca, the mayor of Oaxaca city agreed that “Oaxaca’s got it all, whoever visits falls in love with it, gets hooked by its music, folklore, art, culture, gastronomy and identity . . . .”
“Those who visit us are fascinated by the 17th-century architecture, the gardens and the shady zócalo,” added José Antonio Hernández Fraguas.
Despite the complications caused by the socio-political idiosyncrasies of the city and the state, National Geographic’s recommendation is the second to be published this year.
Over the summer, Travel and Leisure magazine named Oaxaca city the sixth best city in the worldfor its “thriving culinary scene and cultural depth.”
Source: National Geographic (en), e-oaxaca (sp)
