Impending doom: Day turns to night as huge storm batters Argentinian city (VIDEOS)

Several towns and cities in Cordoba, Argentina were battered by a sudden and violent dust storm which ripped roofs from houses, felled trees and blocked out the sun.

Shortly before 7pm local time on Sunday, locals noticed a rather foreboding cloud heading straight for the city of Rio Cuarto. Temperatures fell dramatically, and darkness descended as residents fled the sudden downpour of hail and debris.

The violent dust storm enveloped the city in minutes, bringing with it downpours of up to 37mm of rain in some areas, as well as hail. Nearby communities in Serrano and Buchardo experienced rainfall measuring 40mm.

Unfortunate residents received only a vague warning of incoming "isolated storms of varying intensity," which might involve “powerful gusts, heavy rainfall for brief periods of time, intense electrical activity and hail."

Judging by eyewitness videos from Rio Cuarto, the National Meteorological Service's more pessimistic predictions were spot on.

The region had experienced temperatures of 30 degrees Celsius earlier on Sunday before things took a dark turn. There were widespread - but short-lived - power cuts owing to the extreme weather, which included gusts of up to 120kph. 

As one eyewitness video shows, even in General Levalle, 125 km from Rio Cuarto, roofs were torn from buildings and nonchalantly launched into the air.

Miraculously, there were no fatalities or injuries, despite Mother Nature throwing everything at the region in a short space of time.

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