[from El Tribuno, Saturday July 17, 2010]
Salta dressed in white
The snow began late on Thursday and lasted all day yesterday. Whole families of tourists and Salteños packed nearby towns such as Vaqueros and San Lorenzo.
View from Vaqueros | Snow along the side of the road, people enjoying the moment; a postcard repeated around the city and the towns.
It was an unforgettable Friday. The historic day began on Thursday night when sleet appeared as an awaited miracle; later snowflakes began to accumulate and to paint Salta’s silhouette white. Yesterday morning began with joy and a contagious enthusiasm that the youngest passed along to the adults.
The snow that fell all night and most of the day can only be compared with that long ago Monday, July 10, 2000. Not since then has such an event occurred. What particularly sets this apart, said the INTA meteorologist, Ignacio Nieva, is the duration of the snowfall, which began in the late hours of Thursday night. "It is a phenomenon quite unique and surprising because of the duration and extent of the precipitation," he said.
For this reason children, adults, and seniors had the great opportunity to enjoy the snow for several hours. The majority chose to go by car to San Lorenzo and Vaqueros. Roads, around noon, experienced unusual traffic, to the degree that just as in summer, driving was at a crawl.
The shoulders of provincial route 28, the road to San Lorenzo, were filled all the way to the top of Castellanos. Impromptu snowball fights, competitions to build the largest snowman, and even photo shoots with ingenious poses were the activities that prevailed throughout the Salteña morning.
The people’s joy
"It'll be on Facebook, Mami," a teenager clicking his camera madly told a woman who was piling up a mound of projectiles. "If that happens, I'll kill you, Baby," the mother shouted as she raised a finger.
The cold didn’t disturb the San Lorenzo River, where during siesta fun and smiles reigned. "This is a blessing," a nun who visited the Quebrada yesterday told The Tribune. "The snow, like rain, they fall for everyone. It's moving,” she said.
On many cars one could see a snowman. In several cases these were arranged irresponsibly, to the point of blocking the view of drivers who circled the highways as their sculptures melted.
Cafayate
For Cafayate, yesterday was a historic day. No townspeople remember when the snow marker, the San Isidro mountain, as it is known, awoke so covered in a white blanket, as happened yesterday. Cafayateños and many tourists turned their cameras and camcorders to this marker, which continued to cause admiration among the people.
General Guemes
General Guemes dawned white. The municipality always measures a temperature 4-5 degrees higher than Salta; it’s warmer in summer and less cold in winter. However, yesterday, Cobos, near Campo Santo, was a snow scene and became a meeting point for families, many of whom never had had the chance to touch this phenomenon.
Metán
Metán had an amazing sunrise. The trees on the sidewalks, roofs, green spaces, and cars were dressed in white and many people took the opportunity to build snowmen. The highest precipitation was observed in the mountains west of the city, in the San Cayetano and AMEC neighborhoods. It was one of the largest snowfalls in recent decades.
Rosario de la Frontera
La Ciudad Termal had to wait 11 years to see snow. El Naranjo, a tourist town located a few kilometers from the town, became the favorite spot by the Rosarinos to watch the snow across the mountains. "In Rosario de la Frontera the last snowfall was recorded on July 11, 1999," recalled a neighbor, watching the hills covered by a white blanket.
