Caracterização meteorológica de um tornado ocorrido no Rio de Janeiro

Abstract

Tornadoes are extreme atmospheric phenomena, being considered the most severe that occur in nature. Brazil has a high risk of this phenomenon occurrence, and the center-south sector of the country occupies the second place in the world ranking of tornado incidence. In view of this, this work will analyze the tornado that occurred in the Baixada Fluminense region of Rio de Janeiro on January 19, 2011, focusing on the atmospheric characteristics that favored its occurrence. In general, it was observed that January 19 had one of the highest values of air temperature and wind speed recorded in that month, and also that part of Brazil was under the influence of the South Atlantic Convergence Zone (SACZ), important factors to explain the atmospheric instability that enabled the formation of a tornado. In the satellite images of the Southeast region, it was possible to observe a gradual growth of clouds with a very cold top in the region of Nova Iguaçu between 18h and 19:30h. In addition, the instability indices Showalter, K, Total-Totals, LIFT and the convective available potential energy (CAPE) presented values within the reference standard as potential for the formation of severe storms on the day of the event.