Havana, August 24 (RHC)-- One of the eight weather observation radars in Cuba, that of La Bajada in Pinar del Río, is already operational after four years of inactivity, according to Granma newspaper.

The return of the radar will solve a “zone of silence” that existed previously and that hindered the early detection and monitoring of fast-forming meteorological phenomena in areas near Cuba in the Gulf of Mexico.

Frequently mentioned by Cuba's most famous weather man, Dr.  José Rubiera, in his weather forecasts, La Bajada radar is located in the Guanahacabibes peninsula and has been very relevant for the meteorological information of that part of Cuba since a radar manufactured by the Japanese Mitsubishi was installed there in September 1973.

Its location, along with others in the Caribbean region, ncluding that of Punta del Este and Gran Piedra in Cuba, was due to a collaboration between the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) seeking to equip the region with the necessary means to monitor hurricanes.

Since then, the radar has received various repairs and technological changes, but a few months ago all the equipment was changed.

As Gerald Miguel Malagón, director of the Meteorological Center of Pinar del Río, explained to Granma, the radar’s technology had become obsolete and “spare parts for its repair were no longer found in the market.”

This time the modernization also included the repair of the facilities, the layout of a new electrical system and the rehabilitation of areas for training.

“Our radar has a range of 450 kilometers, we practically cover from Florida, Yucatán and most of the Caribbean Sea,” Lázaro Martín Ledesma, one of the five people working in 24-hour shifts as an observer-reviewer in the radar station, told