If a cold air current from the north is displaced and it can be loaded with moisture and is pushed by strong winds at a medium and high altitude in the atmosphere, and this cold air current falls to the lower strata of the atmosphere and enters in contact with warm air currents can cause heavy rains that last for days in a specific area. This climatological phenomenon is known as Vaguada.

The consequences of the troughs can reach catastrophic levels, as is the case of the 1999 trough on the central coast of Venezuela . After a rainy season that has saturated and softened the land, an increase in abnormal rainfall results in an increase in the washing of the land due to excorrenty and river flow. The force of the current takes away the fine sediments that hold the stones and these can be dragged along with a large amount of mud and other debris, this condition is potentially aggravated if the slope of the terrain is strong.