MetSul Meteorologia

A tornado leveled a small village in northern Argentina Friday night (Jauneau 26th). Local residents described an intense sound that lasted around a minute. Damage was reported in a 500 meter (180 feet aprox.) wide area that extended for 4 kilometers (2 miles aprox.) in small village of Asco in the Province of Santiago del Estero. No one died but damages mounted to properties in this very impoverished region of northern Argentina. Some pictures available at our Tornado World blog: http://www.metsul.com/blog/?cod_blog=3 Local news report (in Spanish): http://www.cadena3.com.ar/noticias_ampliada.asp?mas=90242 Last December another tornado brought damage to Santiago del Estero. Pictures and video (Portuguese and Spanish) available at: http://www.metsul.com/secoes/visualiza.php...p;cod_texto=410 Santiago del Estero is located in the South America's Tornado Alley. Alexandre

Severe weather over here is not unusual. Central South America is one of the most tornadic areas in the planet. But this outbreak was impressive. Let's see if El Nino played a role. During El Nino years Southern Brazil and Argentina receive more rain, so more humidity. As the atmosphere gets more water wapor and this is a warm period, strong thunderstorms develop easily. Merry Christmas Gray !!

Since Sunday (December 17th) a severe weather outbreak with tornadoes left 16 people dead in the Southern Cone of South America. The death toll so far is 13 in Argentina, 2 in Uruguay and 1 in Brazil. Severe thunderstorms and tornadoes in Argentina and Uruguay: http://www.metsul.com/secoes/visualiza.php...p;cod_texto=433 http://www.metsul.com/secoes/visualiza.php...p;cod_texto=440 Severe thunderstorms in Southen Brazil: http://www.metsul.com/secoes/visualiza.php...p;cod_texto=441 Tornado in Southern Brazil: http://www.metsul.com/secoes/visualiza.php...p;cod_texto=436

We posted some damage, satellite and radar pictures from Saomai in a report on the typhoon: http://www.metsul.com/secoes/visualiza.php...p;cod_texto=152