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From: PjrOhio{at}EarthLink.Net
Date: Sat Mar 27 2004 - 18:57:20 EST
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Here are a few News Search links and
some select articles from this morning:
Google News Search:
http://tinyurl.com/2a33f
YaHoo News Search:
http://tinyurl.com/22qcn
_________________________________________
Posted on Fri, Mar. 26, 2004
Surprise! Hurricane forms off Brazilian coast
By MARTIN MERZER
mmerzer{at}herald.com
Extraordinarily surprised forecasters at the
National Hurricane Center scrambled Friday to
help Brazilian meteorologists track the first
hurricane ever reported in the South Atlantic.
The stealth hurricane, located about 275 miles
off Brazil's southern coast, has no name because
it's not supposed to be there. No one was even
sure who was responsible to track it.
"It appears that we have our first ever South
Atlantic hurricane, at least the first we know of,"
said Jack Beven, a forecaster at the hurricane
center in West Miami-Dade County. "We're all kind
of scratching our heads over here. We're not
exactly geared up for this area."
Data about the storm were scarce, but Beven said
he believed it was a minimal Category 1 hurricane,
with wind of 74-95 mph. It appeared to be drifting
slowly toward Brazil, but it was too early to say
if it would strike land.
He said forecasters at the hurricane center were
attempting to help Brazilian meteorologists, who
may have other things to worry about but have
never before seen a hurricane.
"We know there hasn't been a hurricane in that
area since at least the satellite era, the mid-60s
at the minimum," Beven said.
He emphasized that the storm was a meteorological
curiosity and had nothing to do with South Florida's
week of wind or chances of getting struck by a
hurricane this year. Our six-month hurricane season
begins June 1.
"This has no predictive value at all for the normal
Atlantic season," he said.
___________________________________________
Powerful Storm Hits Southern Brazil Coast
Saturday, March 27, 2004
By BERND RADOWITZ
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil - A large storm spiraled
toward southern Brazil on Saturday as a debate
raged between Brazilian and U.S. meteorologists
over whether it was a hurricane.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Florida
estimated the storm was a full-fledged, Category I
hurricane with winds of between 75 and 80 mph,
making it the first hurricane ever spotted in the
South Atlantic. AccuWeather, Inc., a private
forecasting company, said it also considered the
storm a hurricane.
Brazilian scientists disagreed, saying the storm
had top winds of 50 to 56 mph, far below the 75 mph
threshold of a hurricane. The state of Santa Catarina
put its civil defense on alert Saturday night,
warning of high waves.
The U.S. forecasters said the worst part of the storm
would hit Brazil early Sunday somewhere between the
cities of Florianopolis and Porto Allegre, a span of
about 130 miles. The Brazilians said the storm could
peter out before then.
"Winds and rains will not be significant, so we don't
need to alarm the population," said meteorologist Dr.
Gustavo Escobar of the Brazilian Center for Weather
Prediction and Climatic Studies.
U.S. scientists said they were baffled by the Brazilian
position.
"We think the Brazilians are, quite frankly, out to
lunch on this one," said Michael Sager, an AccuWeather
meteorologist. "I think they're trying to play it down
and not cause a panic. I don't know what they're doing,
but they're obviously wrong."
All sides said they were basing their estimates on
satellite data, since the United States has no hurricane
hunter airplanes in the area and Brazil doesn't own any.
Satellite images showed a spiral-shaped mass of clouds
with an open area in the center. Escobar called it an
"extra-tropical cyclone."
Sager said the storm had a clear, well-defined eye and
that it had lasted for more than 36 hours. Storms that
are not hurricane-strength sometimes form strong eyes,
but not for that long, he said.
Kelen Andrade, another meteorologist with the Brazilian
center, said the storm was swirling only in a clockwise
motion and was not showing motion in the opposite
direction at higher altitudes, another mark of a
hurricane. Sager disagreed.
"If you know what you're looking at, you can see that
counterrotating quite readily," he said.
He predicted the storm would make landfall at hurricane
strength just before dawn near the town of Torres.
Earlier Saturday, the outer edges of the storm brushed
the coast of Brazil's southern Santa Catarina state with
winds estimated at about 25-30 mph and moderate rains,
Escobar said. The area is about 430 miles south of
Rio de Janeiro.
Winds in nearby Florianopolis, a city of 700,000, were
only about 12 mph, rainfall was mild, and no damage was
reported, said meteorologist Kelen Andrade.
Jack Beven, a hurricane specialist at the National
Hurricane Center in Miami, said the eye of the storm was
near 29 degrees south latitude and 48 degrees west
longitude by Saturday evening. That would place it about
50 miles east of the city of Laguna.
"To us, it has all the satellite appearance and intensity
of a hurricane," Beven said. "I don't know what data
(the Brazilians) are looking at. They may have data
services locally that don't go out on the national data
service."
He said no agency is sending out regular hurricane
advisories on the storm.
"Down there, this is such a rare and unique event. The
whole situation is strange," Beven said. "We're trying
to help out, but because of the uniqueness of this event,
it may be out of their expertise to some degree."
___________________________________________
28 Mar 2004 05:57:13 GMT
Cyclone hits Brazil, 7 fishermen feared dead
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil, March 28 (Reuters) -
A rare cyclone bringing strong winds and rain may
have killed seven fishermen and had damaged houses
and caused blackouts on the southern coast of Brazil,
civil defense officials said on Sunday.
Brazil's official weather service has denied the
weather phenomenon is a hurricane as U.S.
meteorologists said earlier, but warned of gusty
winds in the southern state of Santa Catarina on
Sunday.
"The center of the cyclone is already above the ground
in Santa Catarina and we have some municipalities
without power, some roofs damaged by wind and by trees,"
said Civil Defense Capt. Marcio Luiz Alves.
He said one fishing boat sank on Saturday night and
its crew of seven was missing.
"There are fears that they drowned, Also, there are four
fishing boats in a critical situation as they cannot
return to the shore due to the storm," Alves said.
Wind speed in some areas of Santa Catarina reached over
60 mph (100 kph), while waves reached to 16 feet
(5 metres).
Alves said an early storm warning allowed civil defense
officials to warn residents and many had left the shore
area.
He said the storm was expected to lose its strength by
the morning as it hit a mountain range.
On Friday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami
said the first hurricane ever was forming in the south
Atlantic off the coast of Brazil, classifying it as a
Category 1 hurricane -- the least powerful on
forecasters' five-level scale, with winds between 74 and
95 mph (119 and 153 kph).
Kelen Andrade, a meteorologist with the state Weather
Forecasting and Climatic Studies Center said that while
satellite images could have suggested a hurricane, more
detailed studies showed an extratropical cyclone.
"Brazil has never had hurricanes and it is not having one
now," she said, explaining the eye of a hurricane was
hotter than its edges, while the center of an extratropical
cyclone, which forms above colder waters, was cold.
Wind speed in a cyclone also tended to be lower than that
of a hurricane, weather officials said.
___________________________________________
Tropical Storm Lashes Brazil, Kills One
Sunday March 28, 2004 9:31 AM
By BERND RADOWITZ
Associated Press Writer
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AP) - A child died in a collapsed
house and seven fishermen were missing and feared dead
early Sunday as a large spiraling storm lashed the coast
of southern Brazil, Civil Defense officials said.
Meanwhile, Brazilian and U.S. meteorologists disagreed
over whether the storm was a hurricane - the first on
record in the South Atlantic.
"It has gotten more severe in the last two hours," said
Santa Catarina state Civil Defense official Marcio Luiz
Alves.
He said a child died in a collapsed house when an area
of beach resorts was hit by the high winds. A fishing
vessel with seven people on board was missing, while four
other vessels were struggling to get to shore, Alves said.
The storm, dubbed Catarina by meteorologists, hit the
coasts of Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil's
southernmost states, late Saturday with heavy rains and
winds of up to 60 mph.
The storm damaged homes, downed trees and knocked out
power for several hundred thousand people across some 40
municipalities, according to civil defense officials in
the two states.
"We are now bracing for the worst, which could come in the
next couple of hours," said Ariel Goncalves, a spokesman
for the Rio Grande do Sul Civil Defense Agency.
The storm hit land around the beach resort of Laguna, a
town of 40,000 people. It also struck Torres, a city of
400,000 in the neighboring state of Rio Grande do Sul.
Laguna and Torres are about 500 miles south of Rio de
Janeiro.
Meanwhile, there was a debate among Brazilian and U.S.
meteorologists over whether the storm was a hurricane.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Florida estimated
the storm was a full-fledged, Category I hurricane with
central winds of between 75 and 80 mph, making it the
first hurricane ever spotted in the South Atlantic.
AccuWeather, Inc., a private forecasting company, said it
also considered the storm a hurricane.
Brazilian scientists disagreed, saying the storm had top
winds of 50 to 56 mph, far below the 75 mph threshold of
a hurricane.
"Winds and rains will not be significant, so we don't need
to alarm the population," meteorologist Dr. Gustavo
Escobar of the Brazilian Center for Weather Prediction
and Climatic Studies said earlier Saturday.
U.S. meteorologists said they were baffled by the
Brazilian position.
"We think the Brazilians are, quite frankly, out to
lunch on this one," said Michael Sager, an AccuWeather
meteorologist. "I think they're trying to play it down
and not cause a panic. I don't know what they're doing,
but they're obviously wrong."
All sides said they were basing their estimates on
satellite data, since the United States has no hurricane
hunter airplanes in the area and Brazil doesn't own any.
Satellite images showed a spiral-shaped mass of clouds
with an open area in the center. Escobar called it an
"extra-tropical cyclone."
Sager said the storm had a clear, well-defined eye and
that it had lasted for more than 36 hours. Storms that
are not hurricane-strength sometimes form strong eyes,
but not for that long, he said.
Kelen Andrade, another meteorologist with the Brazilian
center, said the storm was swirling only in a clockwise
motion and was not showing motion in the opposite
direction at higher altitudes, another mark of a hurricane.
Sager disagreed.
"If you know what you're looking at, you can see that
counterrotating quite readily," he said.
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004
.
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