MIAMI, United States. — The Cuban Institute of Meteorology (INSMET) warned this Wednesday about the occurrence of heavy rains and electrical storms in Cuba for the next few days.
The entity issued the Special Notice No. 1 due to the strong and intense rains that have affected the provinces of Camagüey and Santiago de Cuba in the last 24 hours, caused by a stationary trough.
“This hydrometeorological situation was encouraged by the persistence of a trough in the middle and upper levels of the troposphere over the Gulf of Mexico and a humid flow from the south in the low levels, in combination with afternoon instability, derived from strong daytime warming and local conditions,” says the INSMET statement.
The INSMET meteorological stations and the network of rain gauges of the National Institute of Hydraulic Resources have collected cumulative amounts of 100 millimeters in at least 21 locations, including Tele-correo Delicias, Acueducto Jesús Menéndez, Embalse Juan Sáez, and Tele-correo Bartle, in Las Tunas, as well as the Baraguá Protest Reservoir, in Santiago de Cuba.
The INSMET specified that “these unstable conditions will remain throughout the national territory, generating showers, rains and electrical storms in a large part of Cuba, which could be strong and intense in some locations, mainly in the central and eastern regions.” .
The INSMET warned that although there will be little waves on the south coast of the west and center, as well as in the north east, in areas of showers and electrical storms, the wind speed and the height of the waves will increase.
The heavy rains have not been limited to Cuba. Significant accumulations have been recorded in the southern United States, and also in Haiti, where at least 43 people reportedly lost their lives and thousands more have been displaced by the floods.