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04 / 06 / 2004
José Rubiera: The father of tropical cyclones is catalan
The director of forecasting at the Metrological Institute of Cuba, Dr. José Rubiera, honored the memory of Jesuit priest Benito Viñes, the first tropical cyclone researcher, in his speech this morning at the First World Conference of Broadcast Meteorologists
“Jesuit priest Benito Viñes (Catalonia 1837-Havana 1893) discovered the first law of anticyclones of the Caribbean, marking a milestone in the history of such research in the world and leaving posterity an unprecedented testimony about this meteorological phenomena,” said Cuban meteorologist José Rubiera, director of forecasting at the Metrological Institute of Cuba.
The Catalan Jesuit researched for years at his observatory at the Colegio de Belén in Havana in order to formulate, in 1875, Viñes Law, essential to the study of tropical storms, a field in which there was little research until well into the 20th century explained the Cuban scientist in broken Catalan.
In his presentation as part of the panel “Preparation for weather emergencies, inclement weather, natural disasters, one official voice,” the well-known expert in hurricanes explained the system of the forecast center, the press and the civil protection authorities in order to predict natural disasters and decrease human and economic losses.
Rubiera stated that the 42 classes given on climatology and meteorology by the Cuban education channel and the fact that this informative and educational programming was aimed at general audiences, has heightened awareness of atmospheric phenomena and taught citizens how to act in the event of a tropical hurricane.
He also emphasized the need to make people aware of the uncertainty of the forecasts because “although much progress has been in terms of how precise predictions of the path of tropical cyclones are, it is still very difficult to make exact forecasts on intensity.”
Rubiera’s presentation this morning also focused on the need for greater coordination among meteorologists, the media and authorities in order to minimize damages resulting from natural disaster. He used Cuba as an example of good coordination, thanks to which the damages suffered by the country are lower compared to other Caribbean countries.
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