Chile's capital deals with fiercest cold snap in decades

Chileans are wrapping with more clothing and clutching cups of hot coffee as the nation deals with the most intense cold wave in nearly 70 years, bringing winter season weather condition in the middle of fall.

Given that 1950, that is, in the last 74 years, we had actually not had a. cold wave as intense as the current one in May, climatologist. at the University of Santiago, Raul Cordero, told .

So we remain in the presence of the longest cold wave ever. taped in the capital, a minimum of considering that 1950 for fall.

For Thursday, the meteorological workplace anticipated a minimum. temperature level of 1 degree Celsius (34 Fahrenheit) in the central. Santiago area.

The change was abrupt-- within days of summertime heat ending,. mountains near the capital had snowy peaks.

Before, May was a very autumnal month and now we go from. extreme heat to extreme cold, said trainee Francisca Vergara.

The Chilean federal government also declared a code blue in 6. regions in central and south central Chile to help individuals living. on the streets deal with the extreme cold.

Cordero likewise said that polar cold masses encountering. tropical warm ones can cause storms, like the recent ones in. Brazil where severe rains and floods have left almost 150 dead.

Aside from climate change and weather events like El Nino. and La Nina, Cordero stated misfortune added to the extreme. weather condition events.

These masses might have been found a couple of hundred kilometers.

(source: Reuters)