Cuba’s Western Tip Near Path of Hurricane Paula

By Circles Robinson

The coast of Cape San Antonio, Pinar del Rio. Photo by Caridad

HAVANA TIMES, Oct. 12 — Hurricane Paula became a Category 2 storm on the Saffir Simpson scale early Tuesday afternoon and its path should bring heavy winds and rain to parts of western Cuba in the coming days.

See the latest hurricane projection cone of the Cuban Meteorological Institute.

With maximum sustained winds of 160 kph (100 mph), Paula is currently 225 kms (140 miles) south-southeast of Cozumel, Mexico.

The storm is expected to approach the Mexican Yucatan peninsula’s eastern coast late Tuesday or early Wednesday.  It is then forecast to take a turn northeast and by Friday due east in the direction of Cabo San Antonio, the westernmost tip of Cuba.

According to the National Hurricane Center in Miami a Hurricane warning is in effect for “the coast of Mexico from Punta Gruesa north to Cabo Catoche including Cozumel”.

A tropical storm warning is also in place for “the coast of Mexico from Chetumal north to Punta Gruesa and from Cabo Catoche to San Felipe.”