Thunderstorm spotted south of Havana did not make landfall or cause damage

This Saturday, Habaneros sighted a high waterspout (cloud tail) south of the Cuban capital, which fortunately did not fully develop.

According to the National Forecast Center of the Institute of Meteorology, the phenomenon was observed in the afternoon in the Havana municipality of Boyeros, where A severe local storm was also recorded, with hail falling and strong gusting winds., due to the evening instability typical of this time of year.

“Waterspout south of Havana. It did not make landfall and no damage was reported,” official journalist Oscar Figueredo said on Facebook without offering further details.

The television program "Hello, Havana" shared, in turn, a post in which it stated that the storm "apparently did not make landfall, nor did it cause damage, so it is NOT considered a tornado." In addition, he indicated that his preliminary location was in the vicinity of Lenin Park.

“It was the last thing we were missing, luckily it didn't make landfall,” commented a Facebook user.

The concern expressed is not in vain, since on January 27, 2019, several municipalities in Havana suffered the devastating and traumatic impact of a strong tornado that caused deaths and extensive damage to homes.

Almost a year after that event, a waterspout was sighted a few meters from the entrance to the Havana Bay tunnel. At that time, netizens also expressed concern about such phenomena.

Last April, a tornado left damage to some homes in the Modelo-Imán neighborhood, in the main municipality of Camagüey.

However, the experience in Havana has been one of the most impressive. Some of the Cubans who lost their homes then, still remain homeless, such as the case of Carlos Luis Pozo Vaillant, who lived on Calle Colina no.13, between Delicia and Diez de Octubre, municipality of Diez de Octubre, before the tornado destroyed his house.

The Cuban government estimated the damage at four dead and 195 injured, in addition to 1,238 damage to homes, including 347 total collapses of houses and roofs. Meteorologists explained that the tornado was a consequence of environmental conditions favored by a trough.

Likewise, they estimated that the whirlwind had its origin in the vicinity of Reparto Martí and the Sports Casino, at approximately 8:20 p.m. Then it moved in an east-northeast direction, and 26 minutes later it left at a point on the north coast, specifically in the Celimar neighborhood.