South American blizzard drops up to 10 feet of snow - main mountain pass between Chile and Argentina closed

Teton Gravity Research
Sat, 11 Jun 2016 00:11 UTC

Paso Los Libertadores, which links Santiago, Chile and Mendoza, Argentina, is completely buried and shut down after 10+ feet of snow.

David Owen from Powderquest shared this incredible photo of a classically monstrous Andean blizzard, which just dropped over 10 FEET of snow across large swathes of the Andes, all but closing down the main pass between Santiago, Chile, and Mendoza, Argentina in the process.

A huge snowstorm slammed into the Central Andes ski resorts of Chile and Argentina, dropping close to 10 feet in some areas late last week and into the weekend. The main mountain pass between the two countries, Los Libertadores, is burred in over 10-12 foot drifts and remains closed to all vehicles due to high avalanche danger and crews trying to move the snow.

© Portillo

Portillo, Chile after 7 feet. 2-3 more feet fell before the storm cleared.

© Carlos Garcia

The mountain village of Farellones in Chile on Saturday June 4.

© Portillo

After the storm cleared, 9 feet of new snow at Hotel Portillo and more at the top.

Comment: Keep in mind the tremendous floods that have plagued countries all over the world lately. If such an amount of precipitation were combined with much lower temperatures due to volcanic eruptions or other causes, snowfalls of this magnitude may become much more common, and more widespread.