Tornadoes and waterspouts in Brazil.
Tornadoes and waterspouts are not as frequently observed in Brazil as they are in the United States, but they do occur there. Damage possibly caused (and sometimes confirmed) by isolated tornadoes is reported almost every year, especially in the southern part of the country. This is because synoptic conditions favorable to the onset of mid-latitude severe weather (including mesoscale convective complexes and supercells) in South America occur east of the Andes around 25°-30°S during the warm season, from September to March (see here). These conditions resemble, somewhat, the ones observed over the Central Plains of the United States during the North-American severe weather season. There is photographic evidence, such as destruction paths in forests and open fields, that make us believe that the occurrence of tornadoes in Brazil, although unusual, is not as rare as previously thought. Here you will find some pictures showing the destruction caused by tornadoes in Brazil.
Click here to see a sequence of pictures of a WATERSPOUT. Click here to see the picture of a TORNADO in the funnel_cloud stage and the destruction caused by it in south Brazil.
A WATERSPOUT in southeast Brazil: click here.
Below: destruction caused by a TORNADO in the town of Nova Laranjeira, in Paraná state (southern Brazil). June 13th, 1997.
Below: destruction caused by a TORNADO in Osório (Rio Grande do Sul state) in February 1999: (photos by meteorologist Neide de Oliveira from the Brazilian National Weather Service, and from a local newspaper).
Damage in a gas station:
Evidence of rotation: twisted trees.
Uprooted trees:
Damage in buildings:
