Brazil

Strong Winds in Brazil Leave at Least Five Dead

Was this windstorm fueled by El Niño or just an unusually intense cold front?

Published JUL 31

Strong Winds in Brazil Leave at Least Five Dead

Story

Above: Workers cut and remove a fallen tree after strong wind gusts in Rio de Janeiro on July 29. Image credit: Pablo Porciuncula/AFP/Getty Images

The Facts

Authorities in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro said that powerful winds in the two Brazilian states on Wednesday left at least five people dead and brought chaos, causing widespread damage and power outages.
Folha de S. Paulo
South China Morning Post
Gusts exceeded 120 km/h (74.5 mph) across parts of the state of São Paulo, with the highest recorded speeds of 124.9 km/h ( 77.6 mph), and 100 km/h (62 mph) across parts of the state of Rio de Janeiro.
Jovem Pan
Poder360
teleSUR English
Three deaths were recorded in São Paulo state: a homeless man struck by a falling tree in the port city of Santos, a 62-year-old driver killed when a tree fell on his car in Cesário Lange, and a 50-year-old fisherman who died after his boat capsized off São Sebastião.
Estadão
XINHUA
In Rio de Janeiro, two people died after a wall collapsed during the storm in the neighborhood of the Santa Teresa district. One of the victims was identified as retired top-flight soccer player Tassio Maia dos Santos, who played for teams including Botafogo, CSKA Sofia and Deportivo Saprissa.
Metro UK
The Sun
Power outages affected up to 1.1 million customers across the Rio metro area at the storm's peak, with around 279,000 still without electricity the following morning. In the São Paulo metro area, roughly 106,000 customers lost power.
Agência Brasil
Folha de S. Paulo
During the windstorm, Rio de Janeiro's metro lines were partially suspended, and its downtown domestic airport, Santos Dumont, halted operations for roughly two hours. Flights were also disrupted at São Paulo's downtown domestic airport, Congonhas, and the Port of Santos suspended operations for more than four hours.
Estadão
Poder360
teleSUR English

Sources Split

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The Spin

Narrative A

El Niño's fingerprints are all over the deadly windstorm that tore through São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. The gust front that hit hurricane-force speeds broke off from a storm system fueled by El Niño in southern Brazil. Winter gust fronts are rare precisely because they need unusual moisture to form, and El Niño is delivering exactly that.

O Globo

Narrative B

Pinning this windstorm on El Niño overstates the science and distracts from straightforward meteorological explanations. The gust front was driven by cold-front activity and meteorological troughs, a relatively common phenomenon that was more intense than usual.