Brazil Storm Alert Hits 7 Capitals, Brasília Included

Brazil's national weather service, the Instituto Nacional de Meteorologia (INMET), has a yellow storm warning in force on Tuesday (Oct. 27), rated "Potential Danger," for 1.141 municipalities in 15 states and the Federal District (the Brasília area): Goiás, Bahia, Tocantins, Acre, Pernambuco, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso, Pará, Rondônia, Maranhão, Amazonas, Piauí, Sergipe, Alagoas and Roraima. The alert runs from 8:57 a.m. to 11:59 p.m., Brasília time, and covers seven capitals: Rio Branco, Manaus, Salvador, Brasília, Porto Velho, Aracaju and Palmas.

For the warning area, the institute forecasts rain of 20 to 30 millimeters per hour, or up to 50 millimeters per day, winds of 40 to 60 km/h and hail. It rates the risk as low for power outages, crop damage, falling tree branches and flooding. If winds pick up, INMET advises people not to shelter under trees, because of the slight risk of falling limbs and lightning, and not to park vehicles near transmission towers or billboards. It also recommends avoiding electronic devices that are plugged into an outlet. More information is available from Civil Defense (Defesa Civil, phone 199) and the fire department (Corpo de Bombeiros, phone 193).

Forecast for the capitals today

In the model run by the Norwegian weather service MET Norway, Brasília has the highest rainfall estimate of Brazil's 27 capitals for the 24 hours starting at 9 a.m. (Brasília time) today: 16.3 millimeters. Salvador comes next with 12.1 millimeters, then Goiânia with 11.9 millimeters. These are model estimates, not measurements, and the ranking may shift during the day. Brasília and Salvador are inside the warning area. Goiânia is the capital of a state covered by the alert, but it is not among the seven capitals in the warning area.

INMET's forecast for Brasília calls for a low of 20 °C and a high of 29 °C, with mostly cloudy skies, isolated showers and thunderstorms in the morning, a chance of isolated rain in the afternoon, and showers and thunderstorms in the evening. Salvador has a low of 25 °C and a high of 32 °C, with mostly clear skies in the morning, isolated showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon, and showers and thunderstorms in the evening. In Palmas, the low is 22 °C and the high 34 °C, with showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon and evening. Porto Velho, with a low of 24 °C and a high of 36 °C, can expect isolated showers and thunderstorms in all three parts of the day. Manaus (low of 25 °C, high of 35 °C) and Rio Branco (low of 20 °C, high of 32 °C) have mostly cloudy skies and a chance of isolated rain for part of the day; in Rio Branco, the afternoon forecast is for showers and thunderstorms.

Aracaju is also in the warning area, but INMET's city forecast shows mostly clear skies in all three periods, with a low of 25 °C and a high of 31 °C. The model, the city forecast and the warning can differ, since the warning covers the whole area. That is the case in Manaus and Porto Velho, where the model estimates little rain. In such cases, follow the warning, which is the official reference for the risk of heavy rain, wind and hail.

Curitiba and São Paulo have a cooler day. Curitiba has the lowest forecast minimum among the capitals, at 9 °C, with a high of 18 °C and mostly clear skies in the morning and afternoon. São Paulo also tops out at 18 °C, with a low of 13 °C and mostly clear skies throughout the day. Rio de Janeiro is forecast at a low of 17 °C and a high of 25 °C. Belo Horizonte has a low of 14 °C and a high of 24 °C, with a chance of isolated rain in the afternoon and evening. Porto Alegre has a low of 11 °C and a high of 23 °C.

On the hot side, Teresina has the highest forecast maximum among the capitals, at 39 °C, with a low of 25 °C and a minimum relative humidity forecast at 30%. Boa Vista follows at 38 °C, while Maceió and Porto Velho are at 36 °C each.

Wednesday (Oct. 28)

INMET forecasts another yellow storm warning for tomorrow, from midnight to 11:59 p.m., this time for 1.861 municipalities in 16 states and the Federal District: Goiás, Minas Gerais, Paraná, Pará, Tocantins, Maranhão, Piauí, Mato Grosso, Acre, São Paulo, Pernambuco, Mato Grosso do Sul, Ceará, Rondônia, Bahia, and Amazonas. Eight capitals are in the area: Rio Branco, Brasília, Goiânia, Cuiabá, Campo Grande, Teresina, Porto Velho and Palmas.

A yellow warning for accumulated rainfall is also forecast for 116 municipalities in Bahia, Salvador among them, from 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday (Oct. 28) to 11:59 p.m. on Thursday (Oct. 29). The institute expects rain of 20 to 30 millimeters per hour, or up to 50 millimeters per day, with a low risk of flooding and small landslides in cities with high-risk areas. INMET recommends avoiding the bad weather and watching for changes on hillsides; in case of danger, Civil Defense can be reached at 199.

In the city forecast for tomorrow, Brasília has a low of 19 °C and a high of 27 °C, with isolated showers in the morning and evening and isolated showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon. Goiânia has a low of 21 °C and a high of 28 °C, with a chance of isolated rain in the morning and isolated showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon. Salvador has a low of 25 °C and a high of 31 °C, with isolated showers in all three periods. Teresina repeats its 39 °C high, with a low of 26 °C and isolated showers and thunderstorms in the morning and afternoon.

Warnings for the following days already appear on INMET's panel. For Thursday (Oct. 29), a yellow storm warning covers 2.777 municipalities and 12 capitals, among them Belo Horizonte, Curitiba, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. For Friday (Oct. 30), the warning covers 2.430 municipalities and nine capitals. These alerts can still be changed, canceled or expanded.

The temperatures and rainfall totals cited are forecasts. The warnings and forecasts were checked on the morning of Oct. 27 (Brasília time), and the warning areas may change during the day.

Sources

• INMET: weather warnings panel
• INMET: city weather forecast
• MET Norway: forecast data (CC BY 4.0 license)
• RaisLife: weather and forecasts for the 27 capitals

Text by Rai, RaisLife's virtual reporter (artificial intelligence), with automated editorial review. Data: RaisLife weather panel.