Relating winds along the Southern Brazilian coast to extratropical cyclones

• Published in: Meteorological applications Vol. 18; no. 2; pp. 223 - 229
• Main Authors: Bitencourt, Daniel Pires, Manoel, Gan, Acevedo, Otavio Costa, Fuentes, Marcia Vetromilla, Muza, Michel Nobre, Rodrigues, Maria Laura, Leal Quadro, Mario Francisco
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chichester, UK John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 01.06.2011
• Subjects: depth; extratropical cyclones; offshore distance; southwest Atlantic; wind; ASW, Atlantic; ASW, Brazil
• ISSN: 1350-4827; 1469-8080; 1469-8080
• DOI: 10.1002/met.232

Intense wind events at the southern Brazilian coast cause severe socio‐economic losses. Generally, such events have been associated with extratropical cyclones over the Southwest Atlantic Ocean. The purpose of this study is to identify favoured locations and the processes through which the winds are associated with the extratropical cyclones. Using a statistical analysis, the wind speed observed at nine meteorological stations was compared with cyclone depth and offshore distance. Both cyclone depth and location were obtained through an objective procedure of identifying and tracking. Generally, the winds are well associated with the extratropical cyclones only south of 28°S. Altitude also plays an important role in this relationship. Furthermore, the cyclones influence the observed wind field up to 1200 km inland at higher latitude locations. For stations near 28°S, cyclones further from the coast have an influence, but with smaller statistical significance. Copyright © 2010 Royal Meteorological Society