The bulk of Saturday night’s downpours skirted the Centro, but hit equally parched areas south and east of the area.
Additionally, a low-pressure trough, combined with humidity and high temperatures, brought hail the size of limes to Dzilam de Bravo and the vicinity.
The port town lost power for several hours, local media reported.
Disappointed Centro residents had been joyfully anticipating the first rainfall in over two months. A few stray drops accompanied some lightning and wind, but the drenching was reserved for outlying neighborhoods and rural communities.
The storm cooled temperatures, but didn’t do much to repair drought conditions that are plaguing farmers in the region. Merida, however, is waking up to a refreshing 77F / 25C this morning.
Explaining the hail, Meteorologist Juan Antonio Palma Solís said the day’s intense heat of more than 40C / 104F caused air to rise violently, generating storm clouds. The air currents quickly lifted water droplets to very cold areas within the cloud, where they froze and turned into ice balls which dropped to the earth.
Palma Solís left open the probability that hailstorms will continue to occur for the rest of the spring and summer. More rain is forecast Tuesday for some parts of Yucatan — but not Merida.
