La Condición de Frío Intenso: nuevo indicador de extremos bioclimáticos por frío para Cuba

In the context of a changing climate, the search for original approaches to the study of bioclimatic extremes in the tropical zone is imposed. In Cuba, along with the increase in warmer episodes, extremes of cold sensations are also presented. In order to characterize them, the work proposes the use of a new indicator, called Intense Cold Condition (IFC), based on the calculation of the thermal sensation at contrasting times of the day, with the use of effective temperature and equivalent effective temperature. The calculations were made with data from the Casablanca and Santiago de las Vegas stations, in Havana, for the period 1981-2010. The results indicate the feasibility of using this new bioclimatic indicator, consisting of 5 categories and two variants (with and without wind, respectively), for the western region of the country. In addition, significant trends in the decrease in the number of days with IFC and the duration of the season under these conditions. were found.