A surface trough moving ahead of a cold front is causing abundant cloudiness along with showers, rainfall, and thunderstorms over the central and eastern regions of Cuba this Friday, according to the Institute of Meteorology of Cuba (INSMET).
The most significant total from the episode was recorded in Ciego de Ávila, where the Provincial Meteorological Center reported 115 millimeters of rain in the last 24 hours.
The Climate Station in Amancio, Las Tunas, recorded 31 millimeters during the same period. The cold front was located at 9:00 a.m. over the southeast part of the Gulf of Mexico, with a wide band of clouds covering a large portion of the gulf, the Florida Peninsula, and the Charleston area.
"Ahead of the cold front, a trough is bringing abundant cloud cover over much of the territory, with areas of rain and storms affecting the central and eastern regions," explained meteorologist Raydel Ruisánchez from the Habana-Artemisa-Mayabeque Meteorological Center.
The forecast from the INSMET Forecast Center warns that the sky will be mostly cloudy with numerous showers and thunderstorms in the central and eastern regions, with rains that "will become heavy in certain areas and will persist into the night." In the western region, the precipitation will be isolated.
Maximum temperatures are expected to range between 25 and 28 degrees Celsius throughout the country, with lower values where cloud cover persists. At night, the thermometer will fluctuate between 21 and 24 degrees, with lower readings in western interior areas.
The winds will blow from the north in the west, with speeds ranging from 10 to 25 kilometers per hour, while in the rest of the country they will be variable and weak.
On coasts with storm activity, wind strength and wave height could increase locally.
Regarding the evolution of the system, Ruisánchez specified that "in the coming hours, this trough will continue moving eastward, affecting the central and eastern regions with areas of rain and storms that may be strong and intense at some points, while the cold front is expected to arrive in the west by the end of the day."
For the west, conditions will begin to improve throughout the rest of Friday, although isolated rain showers are still possible.
INSMET stated that "the colder air mass is expected to begin influencing the western region starting tomorrow, resulting in cooler temperatures this weekend."
This episode occurs at the beginning of an anomalous cold front season 2026-2027, characterized by an increased frequency of frontal systems, significant rainfall, and marked temperature drops, as forecasted by specialists from INSMET at the XVI National Climate Perspectives Forum, held on November 9.
The monitoring of these rains becomes complicated due to a situation reported on Wednesday by Cuban meteorologist Yosmelvi Páez: the eight radars of the Cuban meteorological network have been offline for months due to fuel shortages, forcing the population to rely on American radars —those in Key West and the Guantánamo Naval Base— to track the progression of the rainfall. Páez had already made the same complaint in September.
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