The eighth month of the year has proved to be the third most dangerous for Cuba during the cyclonic season in the geographical area of the tropical Atlantic Ocean, including the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea.

A revealing fact is that in August several tropical storms formed in that area, among them Fred, Grace, Henri, Kate, Julian, depression ten and hurricane Ida, which hit the western region, thus increasing to 10 the number of such systems, according to specialists' reports.

Ida's winds and rains mainly affected the province of Pinar del Rio and the special municipality Isle of Youth, in full recovery process or to leave them in better than previous conditions, with the safeguarding of the Civil Defense Media System in coordination with the Institute of Meteorology.

August, in its second half along with the first of September, constitutes the period of maximum activity of the dangerous semester from the hydrometeorological point of view, from June 1 to November 30.

So much so that in September 2002 and August 2004 a total of eight occurred, which represented the monthly record for the most cyclones that receive their name when they exceed the tropical storm phase.

However, in Cuba, it is the third most dangerous month for tropical cyclones, after September and October, when they are usually accompanied by an extensive area of clouds with showers, rains, thunderstorms and even tornadoes.

A list of the most significant hurricanes that occurred in the country in August during this century includes Charley in 2004, Gustav in 2008, Camille in 1969, Allen in 1980, Andrew in 1992 and Katrina in 2005.

Specialists of the Institute of Meteorology coincided in qualifying the new cyclonic season as active, when in its months some 16 tropical cyclones can form in the North Atlantic, half of which can reach the category of hurricane.
Of these, 10 may form in the Atlantic Ocean, three in the Caribbean and a similar number in the Gulf of Mexico.