What was the weather like in Cuba in 2022?

According to the State of the Climate 2022, written by a group of authors from the Climate Center, the Agrometeorology Center, the Atmospheric Physics Center and the Forecasting Center, all from the Institute of Meteorology, and the Institute of Marine Sciences, Cuba's average annual temperature increased by one degree Celsius in the 1951-2021 period and the upward trend continues.

The text refers that the percentage of hot days was among the 11 highest of the last 44 years in the meteorological stations taken as reference, while the percentage of hot nights occupied the same position for the period 1980-2022.

Other meteorological events discussed in the report that characterized the country's climate last year were droughts and coastal floods.

The Cuban archipelago was affected by a persistent meteorological drought in the October-December 2022 quarter, when it was present in 84 percent of the national territory.

Cecilia Maria Fonseca Rivera, head of the Climate Center, pointed out the coastal flooding recorded in late September in low-lying areas near the Gulf of Batabano, associated with Hurricane Ian's landfall in the provinces of Pinar del Rio and Artemisa on the 27th.

The sea inlet on land exceeded four kilometers on average in some stretches, but at certain points it reached a greater distance, said the specialist.        

Regarding sea elevation, she explained that the most significant was measured at the Siboney tide gauge station, west of Havana, and based on the most recent evaluations, the increase in sea level in the area would be in the order of 29.3 centimeters by 2050 and 95 cm in 2100.

The State of the Climate in Cuba 2022 was presented as part of the 8th Congress on Climate Change, in the context of the 14th International Convention on Environment and Development, held in Havana.