Commuter Conditions

Freak Hailstorm Slams Puebla, Mexico

Hail covers streets in Puebla, Mexico on July 8, 2014. (Carmen Salyastep Sanchez via The Weather Channel Facebook page)

A hailstorm Tuesday turned streets in the city of Puebla, Mexico, into a winter wonderland.

Photos submitted to The Weather Channel Facebook page by Carmen Salyastep Sanchez shows streets covered in accumulated, small hail. According to El Universal.mx, the city's municipal department of civil protection urged residents to avoid driving, if possible.

Cars are submerged in a combination of accumulated hail and flood water in Puebla, Mexico on July 8, 2014. (Carmen Salyastep Sanchez via The Weather Channel Facebook)

The combination of hail and torrential rain trapped vehicles in an icy, slushy mess up to several feet deep, according to Sanchez's photos. The hardest hit areas of the city were the north and east sides, as well as the city center. Puebla is about 80 miles east-southeast of Mexico City.

Hailstorms are not uncommon in Mexico. The city of Puebla – population of about 2.6 million – is situated at an elevation of about 7,000 feet, or just over 1,700 feet higher than Denver, a city known for hailstorms. This extra elevation means falling hailstones have less warm air to fall through to melt before reaching the ground, even in July.

The sky over Puebla, Mexico on July 8, 2014. You can see the rain/hail shaft at the far right. (Carmen Salyastep Sanchez via The Weather Channel Facebook)

(WATCH: Science Behind Hail Formation)

According to Weather Underground's Christopher Burt, Mexico lies in a mini hail alley running from near Mexico City northwestward, over which there averages up to a handful of days with hail each year.

(MORE: Christopher Burt: World's Largest Hailstones)

Just days before Easter, a hailstorm stranded vehicles for over 12 hours on a mountain highway west of Mexico City. In late May 2013, up to 7 feet of accumulated hail and heavy rain washed vehicles down a canyon near the town of Tepeji del Rio.