|

Christmas in Yucatán: Baby it’s cold outside!

Shipping containers toppled along the Mérida-Progreso highway during a windstorm Christmas Eve. Photo: Yucatán a la Mano

The local media is reporting “freezing” temperatures on Christmas Day. That really means it won’t get above 71F / 22C.

Yucatán is also waking up to scattered power outages and wind damage, especially along the coast, after a battering from high wind gusts that started around 5 p.m. Thursday.

Palapas and lounge chairs were tossed around the beach and a supermarket’s sign was knocked down near the entrance of Progreso. Restaurants were forced to close early when a sand blizzard whipped through the malecón.

Cold front No. 23, which arrived earlier than predicted, brought winds up to 70 kph / 44 mph and gusts that reached speeds of 80 kph / 50 mph, according to meteorologist Juan Vázquez Montalvo. Fishing boats were also caught off guard and quickly returned to land.

Along the highway to Progreso, stacks of Maersk shipping containers toppled. The contents of the containers were not known.

Read More