To the delight of snowbirds and the unease of climate watchers, the ongoing winter season continues to be marked by unusually high temperatures in all three regions of the Cuban archipelago.

According to data from specialists at the National Climate Center of the Cuban Weather Service, the average temperature in January was 24.30 Celsius (75.74 Fahrenheit), the warmest in the past 15 years and the third highest since 1951, only surpassed in 1990 (24.6) and 1991 (24.7).

While temperatures were between 0.1 and 2.80 Celsius above normal in the entire country (Januarys average temperature is 22.7 Celsius), the maximum and minimum average temperatures also surpassed historic averages.

Cuban weather specialists pointed out that the present "winter" is taking place under the influence of a light El Nino-Southern Oscillation phenomenon, characterized by an overheating of the sea surface in a wide band of water that extends from the central Pacific Ocean up the coasts of South America.

This phenomenon usually generates heavy rainfall and storms in some regions of the planet, extreme drought in others, as well as unusual behavior of atmospheric temperatures.

In Cuba the anomalies generated by the El Nino-Southern Oscillation usually take place between February and April, and in particular during March. However the high temperatures during December and January and the significant total rainfall registered in November and December, mainly in the eastern region, suggest that even though it is not as powerful as on previous occasions, El Nino has already stirred up quite a significant weather impact.

Source: Granma