Wind and Rain

Posted on June 13, 2007
Filed Under Weather | 6 Comments

In order to discuss weather in Uruguay, I am hitching a ride on a warning issued today of a possible cyclone forming on the coast of Uruguay. First the news: according to a Brazilian weather company, it is possible that a cyclone is forming in the South Atlantic near the coast of Uruguay. Hurricane force winds are possible on Friday. See the announcement here (scroll down to see the maps). The Uruguayan authorities are understandably cautious about making a big thing about this, because this type of thing is new to Uruguay.

Interestingly enough, in March of 2004 the American weather service spotted a hurricane (not a cyclone) forming near the coast in Southern Brazil and alerted the Brazilians authorities. They reacted with skepticism, since Brazil never had a hurricane before. But it did happen and caught people unprepared! It hit the Santa Catarina state, killed three people and damaged 100,000 homes. To be on the safe side, now every weather agency in Brazil is always on the lookout for the next one. Apparently, they seem to think this may be it, only further south.

The warning is for severe weather on the southern and eastern coasts of Uruguay. Winds of 120km/h are projected. The departments affected will be Montevideo, Maldonado and Rocha. The models show the Maldonado area to be affected more severely.

Whether this turns out to be a cyclone or not, it is important to remember that severe storms and strong winds are not uncommon in the area. The flat terrain and the wide-open Plata Estuary do not create significant obstacles to the wind.

In the many times I’ve been to Uruguay I witnessed a few storms that stuck in my mind. In one case, the rain and wind were so strong that I found it impossible to sleep. The noise of the rain pelting on the roof and sound of branches breaking made me wonder if a greater distance between house and trees would not have been wiser. The following day, I saw hundreds (if not thousands) of broken tree branches, satellite antennas, shingles and other debris throughout the balneario (Punta del Este).

In the winter, when it is windy like now, the wind chill factor can get nasty enough to remind you of the type of cold some of us are accustomed to in North America. While Uruguay is no Edmonton, it does deserve some respect.

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6 Responses to “Wind and Rain”

Urufish on June 13th, 2007 3:26 pm

Good timing. This discussion came up today in the radiologist’s office. Sounds like you were here during the big one… when hundreds of trees were knocked over in Maldonado.
Brazil is calling for up to 140kph. National weather is calling for up to 100kph. Let’s hope both are wrong.
In preparation, we’re driving to Piriapolis tomorrow, taking everything inside and closing up the cortinas tightly.
Going to do the same with the apto on the Rambla.
If I had my way, I’d spend Friday in the house atop San Antonio. It’s a great place to watch the effect of high winds on the town below.
Brazzie on June 13th, 2007 3:52 pm

Let’s hope this thing peters out or misses Chuy and heads into the ocean. Because even if it is just 100km per hour, a LOT of trees are going to go down along the coast.

I don’t think I would like to be atop the hill on a storm like this.
urufish on June 14th, 2007 3:23 pm

Was out and about today. Drove to PDE, (I’ll post that fiasco later), and it uncannily (is that a word?) calm. Montevideo was cloudy and windy this morning, but as we got East, where all hell is supposed to break loose tonight, it got eerily calm. This was one of the few days I can recall there was no wind atop the mountain, (not that I spend a lot of time there in the fall). Could be the calm before the storm.
There was talk about it on the radio. Even some kind of tong’n cheek thing between what Uruguay weather says and Brazil is reporting.
urufish on June 15th, 2007 4:54 pm

THEY LIED TO US!!! No big windstorm… not even much rain… Not even that cold. Hahahahaha.. I ran the house heat all night long last night because my wife was worried we were going to freeze to death overnight.
Brazzie on June 15th, 2007 4:58 pm

I guess the private weather company that issued the warning must be having a “meeting” to decide the future of a few employees.
Pio on June 15th, 2007 8:32 pm

In the Dept. of Maldonado and Rocha the kids enjoyed a day off school and maybe outdoors. It was windy as we looked up the high pine trees in Pinares which shelter us - but nothing unusual thank god.
Better a warning too many - you can’t predict it.

Wind and Rain

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