In the municipality of Puerto Padre, the weather forecast is not just another news item; it's a responsibility that rests on the shoulders of those who work at the local Meteorological Station.

Las Tunas, Cuba.- María Isabel Membrado Sánchez is the lead specialist at the Meteorological Station in this northern municipality of Las Tunas province. From there, she and her small team monitor the sky, measure rainfall, analyze wind patterns, and send data every three hours that feed into the forecasts for the province and the country. The work of this team becomes crucial when a hurricane, like Melissa, threatens the island of Cuba.

"Not everyone has the opportunity to study Meteorology. In Puerto Padre, training has been a continuous learning process, with courses, workshops, and, above all, the guidance of a fundamental pillar."

“We have a colleague with 45 uninterrupted years of service. This demonstrates that it’s a complex, but rewarding profession. The motivation to learn never stops, not even after achieving the position of meteorological observer,” she points out.

At this station, they have the necessary equipment to perform their work. “We have a recording rain gauge and a pluviograph to measure rainfall, one with graphs, the other with a ruler; an anemograph that records wind speed and direction,” she explains, confident that they have good equipment, which forms the basis of the observations transmitted to the Forecast Department.

With the passage of Hurricane Melissa, the routine changed. They had to do a tremendous amount of work, María Isabel told 26. "With only four people instead of the six needed, observations went from being made every three hours to every 60 minutes. Strong winds even prevented us from going out to collect data, while others received calls on the three available phone lines."

"During the weather event, all the staff stayed at the station for two or three days. Thanks to the facilities provided by the Institute of Meteorology, we have dormitories with everything we need to stay there, everything to withstand the storm. The shifts became grueling: 24 hours of work, 72 hours of rest, until we returned to normal."

The work of the men and women of the Puerto Padre Meteorological Station, though sometimes invisible, is essential for the safety and accuracy of the forecasts that guide Cuba. In every piece of data transmitted, there is a story of resilience, training, and dedication.