It wasn't a tornado! Mysterious winds knock down poles and cause confusion in Matanzas

A severe weather event caused the collapse of nine telephone poles on Wednesday afternoon in an area near Laguna Las Piedras, along the stretch of road between Colón and Calimete, in the province of Matanzas.

According to the specialized page Vigilancia Tropical, it was an aerial avalanche with linear winds between 70 and 80 km/h and a total of 102.3 mm of rain in less than two hours, which classifies as a Severe Local Storm (TLS) and intense rainfall. This information was confirmed by the Colón weather station.

Although local media and users on social networks initially identified the phenomenon as a tornado— even referencing the typical "cloud tail" of the Cuban countryside— experts clarified that there is no evidence of a funnel or rotation associated with a tornado, ruling out that hypothesis.

"A resident commented that weather phenomena of this type are becoming common in the region at this time of year... As our colleague Henry Delgado Manzor clarifies, this phenomenon, although known as 'rabo de nube' by our farmers and in rural areas, is referred to in modern meteorology as 'tromba en altura' when it does not touch the ground. Once it reaches the Earth's surface, the phenomenon is called a tornado if it occurs on land, or a waterspout if it occurs over the sea," explained the official Periódico Girón on .

The affected line belongs to the state telecommunications company ETECSA. Teams of linemen from Colón worked throughout the day to restore the service and assured that, despite the structural damage, communications in the area were not interrupted.

This event occurs in a context where ETECSA reported widespread failures in voice and data services across the country. Although this incident has not been formally linked to the downed posts in Colón, the coincidence in dates has fueled speculation on social media.

In recent years, central areas like Matanzas have experienced an increase in severe convective phenomena, such as tornadoes and waterspouts, like those reported in June 2024.