The hurricane season in the North Atlantic, which began on June 1, ends this Wednesday with a total of 14 cyclones tropical storms (tropical storms and hurricanes) in the region, official media reports on the island.
During this period, eight hurricanes christened Danielle, Earl, Fiona, Ian, Julia, Lisa, Martin and Nicole. Of them, only Fiona and Ian became very intense, according to data from the Forecast Center of the Institute of Meteorology (Insmet) of Cuba, reviewed by the Cuban News Agency (ACN).
The text clarifies that none reached category 5 on the Saffir-Simpson scale, although Ian turned out to be the most impetuous with maximum sustained winds of 250 kilometers per hour and a central pressure of 936 hectoPascal, the information indicates.
The report highlights that two tropical depressions also originated, but without any development, in the geographic area of the tropical Atlantic Ocean, including the Gulf of Mexico and the sea. Caribbean.
The experts of the institution described the season as normal, with figures similar to the averages registered during the last three decades (14 tropical storms and 7 hurricanes), although it separated the average collected between 1851-2020, the media reports.
It stands out that what happened last August is striking, when there was no cyclonic activity in the area, an unusual event that since the second half of the 20th century had only happened before 1961 and 1997.
According to the specialists cited by the ACN, among the factors that influenced the event are the notable decrease in relative humidity associated with the influence of an air mass with the presence of dust from the Sahara, the strong upper currents in the upper troposphere and the strengthening of the anticyclonic influence on the tropical Atlantic.
However, September was very active because seven tropical cyclonic organisms originated, data well above the historical average for that same period. Four hurricanes, two of them of great strength (Fiona and Ian), two tropical storms and one tropical depression, they specified, was the balance left by the ninth month of the year.
At the beginning of last May, Insmet specialists had predicted the possible formation of up to 17 tropical cyclones in the season, of which nine could reach the category of hurricane, and one of them would affect Cuba, with an 85% probability.
Cuban Institute of Meteorology forecasts an active hurricane season
For the Cuban meteorologists, the most significant was related to the affectations of the hurricane ian in the western provinces, in particular its merciless scourge of Pinar del Río at the end of September, the influence of a tropical low at the beginning of June, and the heavy and extreme rains in the western and central regions.
Despite not reaching the highest category, in his crossing from south to north through western Cuba, Ian left a final balance of five people dead and numerous material damages, especially in the electrical and communications infrastructure and in the housing fund. of the territory of Pinar del Río, in addition to the negative impact on agriculture.
