Cuba Temps Dip to 4.5 C (40 F)

By Circles Robinson

HAVANA TIMES, Jan. 8 – Playa Giron, the hottest spot in Cuba during the April 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion, was the coldest place on the island on Thursday as temperatures dipped to 4.5 Celsius (40 F).

The cold snap on the island is expected to last through the weekend and into the beginning of next week.

While in Havana the thermometer dropped to a cool 15.9 Celsius (60 F) other parts of the country had it much colder.

Besides Playa Giron the lowest recorded tempertures were: 4.6 in Santo Domingo, Villa Clara; 5.2 in Falla, Ciego de Avila; 5.5 in Aguada de Pasajeros; 6.0 in Jaguey Grande; 6,1 in Júcaro; 6.7 in Indio Hatuey; 6.9 in El Jíbaro and El Yabú; 7.0 in Sagua La Grande; 7.3 en Colón; 7.4 in the city of Sancti Spíritus; 7.5 in Jovellanos; 7.6 in Cienfuegos; 8.3, in Esmeralda; 8,4, in Unión de Reyes; and 8,5, in Batabanó, Havana Province.

The Cuban Meteorlogical Institute notes that the lowest recorded temperature in Cuba is 0.6 C (33 F) set in Bainoa, Havana Province on February 18, 1996.