Inmet Issues Red Alert for Severe Storms Across Southern Brazil

Overview

• The Instituto Nacional de Meteorologia issued a red (great danger) alert covering 529 municipalities in Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina and Paraná, warning of more than 60 mm in an hour or 100 mm in a day, winds above 100 km/h and hail.
• State meteorological services and civil defense agencies published city-level warnings and safety guidance as authorities prepare for flooding, power cuts, fallen trees and damage to homes and crops.
• Forecasters attribute the event to a cavado (elongated low-pressure area), a frontal system and a low-level jet transporting warm, moist air into the South, conditions that favor rapid, intense convection and isolated tornadoes in the western sectors.
• The risk is expected to persist into the weekend because models show a possible extratropical cyclone forming offshore that could strengthen winds and extend instability, raising the chance of larger accumulated rainfall and river rises.
• Most of the rest of Brazil remains under a hot, dry air mass with high temperatures and low humidity, increasing heat stress and fire risk while the South faces acute storm impacts and emergency response needs.