- Ski areas in both Argentina and Chile await green light to open.
- Seven meters (23 ft) of snow.
- International crossings closed.
- Difficult or impossible to travel between towns and cities.
- Cattle starving to death. Temperatures drop to minus 23C.
- None of the three countries, Argentina, Chile and Ecuador remember such a cold and snowy start to winter in the last decade.
- Snowfall in Pillaró, Ecuador.
16 July 2020 – As the storm passed through Argentina and Chile, heavy snowfalls left international crossings closed, with walls on both sides of the route of up to 5 meters (16 1/2 ft) of snow (national 242); extreme temperatures with thermometers that have marked 23 negative degrees.
The storm in Ecuador in the Andean area of Píllaro, in the center of the country and entrance to the Llanganates National Park, left a snowy surprise of up to 30 cm (12 inches).
Since the end of June, Patagonia has been punished with heavy snowfalls and severe low temperatures which make it difficult or impossible to travel between towns and cities. Asphalt or gravel roads are the basis of these accumulations of ice and snow, which in many cases are very dangerous to travel. For example, National Route 40 at night, in some sections, is closed. Route 237 that goes to Neuquén also presents a similar panorama.
One of those places is the La Hoya Ski Center, which shows a significant amount of snow on its slopes but unfortunately cannot be opened due to the pandemic.
The same at Cerro Catedral Alta Patagonia, Cerro Chapelco, Corralco or Nevados de Chillán, to give just a few examples of winter centers overflowing with snow -in some cases it reaches 7 meters- but empty, and awaiting permission from the authorities to start the 2020 ski season.
The first two ski centers with limited opening dates are Cerro Catedral Alta Patagonia (on July 21) and Chapelco on August 1.
Meanwhile, images such as the struggle of some peons in Chubut to prevent their cows and sheep from starving to death amidst the white blanket, images of rivers, lakes and streams transformed into huge mirrors of ice, or images of a man digging a tunnel under the snow to leave his home in Caviahue are difficult to remember in recent winters.
Copahue and the surrounding town are covered by snow, which reaches seven meters in this Neuquén paradise.
https://www.lugaresdenieve.com/sites/default/files/styles/imagenes_ancho_total/public/copahue.jpg?itok=dWc5cF97
blob:
https://www.facebook.com/8032ad3c-e400-45a0-8fdb-9a5df202bde9
Surprise snowfall in Pillaró, in the Poaló area, in Ecuador.
https://www.lugaresdenieve.com/sites/default/files/pillaro-ecuador.jpg
The Pichi Leufu River of Río Negro, Argentina
https://www.lugaresdenieve.com/sites/default/files/rio-negro.jpg
Buried to the knees try to reach to feed the animals
https://www.lugaresdenieve.com/sites/default/files/ADN_SUR.jpg
Thanks to Argiris Diamantis for these links
The post Twenty-three feet of snow in the Andes but ski areas closed due to Covid-19 appeared first on Ice Age Now.
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July 17, 2020 at 09:49AM
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