People look at snow-capped mountains surrounding La Paz from El Alto, Bolivia, on Tuesday. Heavy snowfall in at least five regions forced authorities to temporarily suspend or restrict road travel on several routes to prevent accidents. Photo by Luis Gandarillas/EPA
Aug. 20 (UPI) -- An unusual spell of freezing temperatures and heavy snowfall in western Bolivia has affected more than 26,000 families across five regions, creating a weather emergency in more than 320 Andean communities.
Deputy Civil Defense Minister Juan Carlos Calvimontes said Wednesday that the departments of Potosí, Oruro and Cochabamba have sustained the greatest impact, the newspaper El Deber reported.
The storm dumped up to 20 inches of snow during the dry season, blocking national highways, closing airports and threatening large numbers of llamas and alpacas as snow covered grazing areas.
The weather represents an extreme anomaly for Bolivia's Altiplano, a high-altitude plateau where June through August typically marks a dry winter with little precipitation.
