A severe local storm struck the city of Bayamo, the capital of the province of Granma, on Monday, with winds exceeding 100 km/h, hail, and fallen trees that caused electrical damage in the area, according to preliminary data from the Provincial Meteorological Center.
The official bulletin, presented by meteorologist Jorge Félix Hernández, recorded 81.5 millimeters of rain in just one hour, a figure that represents an extremely intense precipitation even by the standards of the Cuban rainy season.
Among the most striking effects of the phenomenon was the fall of abundant hailstones comparable in size to a pea and a chickpea, an unusual occurrence in the eastern part of the country that had already surprised the people of Bayamo on previous occasions.
The falling of trees, a direct consequence of winds exceeding 100 km/h, exacerbated the damage to the city's electrical infrastructure, which is particularly vulnerable to such convective events.
The Provincial Meteorological Center emphasized that the published data is "preliminary," indicating that the final assessment of impacts could be greater than what is currently known.
Yudelkis Ortiz, the first secretary of the PCC in the province, showed on Facebook images left after the local storm and said: "What you see that is white in the photo is hail that fell. It is still raining, but to a lesser extent. No one should go out into the streets yet under these circumstances."
Bayamo has a recent history of severe storms.
In August 2025, hail the size of golf balls fell on the city in another episode that drew attention due to its intensity, while in July 2020 a severe local storm damaged 36 homes, resulting in two total collapses, 13 roofs completely lost, and damages to the electrical and telephone networks.
The event this Monday is not isolated within the regional context. On May 5th, a severe local storm battered Las Tunas with 62 mm of rain and gusts of 80 km/h, causing flooding in the streets and bridges of that neighboring province.
The Meteorological Institute had warned that May 2026 would bring above-average temperatures across the country, a condition that promotes atmospheric instability and the development of intense convective storms, such as the one recorded this Monday in Bayamo.
The rainy season in Cuba lasts from May to October and is the period with the highest activity of severe local storms, with Granma being one of the eastern provinces historically most exposed to these phenomena.
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