Cuba registered 0°C for the first time in its history on February 3, as a polar air mass brought unprecedented cold and frost to the Caribbean island.

Cuba recorded 0 degree Celsius for the first time ever on Tuesday, February 3, an unprecedented low confirmed by the country’s meteorological institute.

The record low was measured in the early morning at the Indio Hatuey weather station in Matanzas province. This reading broke the previous record of 0.6°C, which had stood since 1996 in the town of Bainoa, Mayabeque province.

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The phenomenon had a visible impact on the region, with frost forming in agricultural areas—a completely unusual scene for Cuba’s Caribbean climate.

According to the Cuban Institute of Meteorology (Insmet, in Spanish) the temperature drop was due to the advance of a polar air mass, which caused widespread cooling across much of the country. Overall, 32 weather stations reported temperatures equal to or below 10°C, with the greatest impact in the central and western parts of the archipelago.

Among the most significant reports are Jagüey Grande (3.4 degrees) and Playa Girón (5), both in the western third of the country, and Aguada de Pasajeros (4.4) and Venezuela (5.1) in the central region. In the eastern area -typically warmer- notable lows have been recorded in Jucarito (6.8) and Holguín (7.6).

The arrival of a new cold front over the past weekend, accompanied by strong winds and rough seas, has primarily affected the northern coast of western Cuba, where the sea has reached low-lying and poorly drained areas of Havana.

Specialists indicated that the combination of clear skies, dry air, and weak winds favored greater heat loss during the night. This scenario, coupled with an exceptionally intense cold front from the north, allowed Cuba to reach the freezing point for the first time in its official records.

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