December went out with a streak of dreary weather marked by sunshine-robbing cloudy days, bone-chilling nighttime temperatures and occasional light rains.
Thermometers at lakeside plummeted over the Christmas holidays, falling close to freezing point at dawn and registering below average over December’s final days.
At least Jalisco was spared the severe conditions that iced up northern Mexico and higher elevations nationwide.
For people wondering how much longer they should expect to keep bundled up and huddled at the hearth, weathermen predict that cool temperatures and partly-cloudy skies will prevail here through most of January. Chances of precipitation during the month have also increased.
Bouts of inclement weather, known as las cabañuelas, commonly occur in January. Long-time resident expats recall extreme years, such as the 1992 washout with 31 straight days of rain. Others witnessed the historic snow storm of December 13, 1997 that dropped a scattering of frosty flakes over lakeside and left the metro area blanketed in white.
Cool winters are a blessing for Lake Chapala, keeping a check on the evaporation that would otherwise steadily suck up its water. It is still brimming today, with a loss of just five centimeters in elevation since the official onset of dry season last October.