Heavy hail storm surprises Havana

A severe local storm in Havana left a large amount of hail this Thursday, larger than the size of a chick pea; The Forecast Center of the Meteorological Institute of Cuba (INSMET) reported.

Official records indicated that the storm began at around 5:15 a.m. in various parts of the Cuban capital, although no material or human damage was reported at this time.

“A strong local storm is occurring in Havana, characterized by strong winds and numerous hailstones, larger than chickpeas,” INSMET wrote on its Twitter account.

Many users on social networks shared pictures of the event and were concerned about the fall of small snowballs.

“Camilo Cienfuegos, storm with hail from Habana del Este,” wrote Lauro Cattorno on Facebook.

“Good morning friends. At 5:35 am, heavy rain, wind and hail in San Miguel del Padron, Havana. I had time to take a video,” said Cuban Felix Rivero.

“Hail is falling in Old Havana,” said internet user Daniel Escalona Castillo.

“Hailstorm at dawn in El Morro, Havana,” wrote Cuban Juan Manuel Hernandez.

“Strong hail in Guanabacoa, Havana. Over five minutes,” Rainier Salazar said.

Severe local storms and hail may be related because hail is a form of precipitation that occurs under certain atmospheric conditions.

Severe local storms are weather events such as heavy rain, strong winds, thunder and lightning, and hail. They usually form in areas where there is a high amount of heat and humidity in the atmosphere and where there is a change in temperature and air pressure.

When clouds form under these conditions, the air within them cools rapidly and can form ice crystals, which are blown up and down within the cloud several times, allowing ice to form around the crystal. Eventually, it grows large enough to be pulled downward by gravity and falls to Earth as hail.

The intensity of a severe local storm, the amount of moisture, and the size of the ice crystals can affect the amount of hail.

Although hail does not occur consistently at any particular time of the year in Cuba, it is usually associated with the formation of severe local storms. They occur more frequently, especially in spring and summer, when temperatures are high and the atmosphere has high levels of humidity.

reported this week Hail in central and eastern CubaIn provinces such as Ciego de Ávila, Camagüey, Las Tunas and Holguín.

In this last area, weather reports cover it in detail The hailstorm lasted for about ten minutesFrom 2.50 pm on Tuesday, residents of Mayari and Bains witnessed the natural phenomenon.