earth science

South Atlantic tropical cyclone

South Atlantic tropical cyclone is a earth science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand South Atlantic tropical cyclone rather than just read about it. In short: South Atlantic tropical cyclones are unusual weather events that occur in the Southern Hemisphere. Strong wind shear, which disrupts the formation of cyclones, as well as a lack of weather disturbances favorable for development in the South Atlantic Ocean, make any strong tropical system extremely rare, and Hurricane Catarina in 2004 is the only recorded South Atlantic hurricane in history.

Key takeaways

South Atlantic tropical cyclone belongs to earth science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect South Atlantic tropical cyclone to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of South Atlantic tropical cyclone from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

South Atlantic tropical cyclones are unusual weather events that occur in the Southern Hemisphere. Strong wind shear, which disrupts the formation of cyclones, as well as a lack of weather disturbances favorable for development in the South Atlantic Ocean, make any strong tropical system extremely rare, and Hurricane Catarina in 2004 is the only recorded South Atlantic hurricane in history. Storms can develop year-round in the South Atlantic, with activity peaking during the months from November through May. Since 2011, the Brazilian Navy Hydrographic Center has assigned names to tropical and subtropical systems in the western side of the basin, near the eastern coast of Brazil, when they have sustained wind speeds of at least 65 km/h (40 mph), the generally accepted minimum sustained wind speed for a disturbance to be designated as a tropical storm in the North Atlantic basin. Below is a list of notable South Atlantic tropical and subtropical cyclones.

Climatology

It was initially thought that tropical cyclones did not develop within the South Atlantic. Very strong vertical wind shear in the troposphere is considered a deterrent. The Intertropical Convergence Zone drops one to two degrees south of the equator, not far enough from the equator for the Coriolis force to significantly aid development. Water temperatures in the tropics of the southern Atlantic are cooler than those in the tropical north Atlantic. Although they are rare, during April 1991 the United States' National Hurricane Center (NHC) reported that a tropical cyclone had developed over the Eastern South Atlantic. In subsequent years, a few systems were suspected to have the characteristics needed to be classified as a tropical cyclone, including in March 1994 and January 2004. During March 2004, an extratropical cyclone formally transitioned into a tropical cyclone and made landfall on Brazil, after becoming a Category 2 hurricane on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale. While the system was threatening the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina, a newspaper used the headline "Furacão Catarina", which was originally presumed to mean "furacão (hurricane) threatening (Santa) Catarina (the state)". After international presses started monitoring the system, "Hurricane Catarina" has formally been adopted.

History and warning At the Sixth WMO International Workshop on Tropical Cyclones (IWTC-VI) in 2006, it was questioned if any subtropical or tropical cyclones had developed within the South Atlantic before Catarina. It was noted that suspect systems had developed in January 1970, March 1994, January 2004, March 2004, May 2004, February 2006, and March 2006. It was also suggested that an effort should be made to locate any possible systems using satellite imagery and synoptic data; however, it was noted that this effort may be hindered by the lack of any geostationary imagery over the basin before 1966. A study was subsequently performed and published during 2012, which concluded that there had been 63 subtropical cyclones in the Southern Atlantic between 1957 and 2007. During January 2009, a subtropical storm developed in the basin, and in March 2010, a tropical storm developed, which was named Anita by the Brazilian public and private weather services. In 2011, the Brazilian Navy Hydrographic Center started to assign names to tropical and subtropical cyclones that develop within its area of responsibility, to the west of 20°W, when they have sustained wind speeds of at least 65 km/h (40 mph). In July 2025, at the 42nd Session of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Assembly, the Brazilian government expressed their intention to establish a Tropical Cyclone Advisory Centre (TCAC) in Rio de Janeiro for METAREA V, which comprises the western side of the South Atlantic ocean and includes the Brazilian coastline, with the Centro Integrado de Meteorologia Aeronáutica (CIMAER) assuming the responsibilities for the region alongside the navy. The plan's goal is to integrate this TCAC into WMO's Tropical Cyclone Programme (TCP) and achieve operational status by December 2026.

Notable storms and impacts

Cyclone Catarina was an extraordinarily rare hurricane-strength tropical cyclone, forming in the southern Atlantic Ocean in March 2004. Soon after becoming a hurricane, it hit the southern coast of Brazil in the state of Santa Catarina on the evening of 28 March, with winds up to 100 miles per hour (160 km/h) making it a Category 2-equivalent cyclone on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane scale. Catarina killed 3 to 11 people and caused millions of dollars in damage in Brazil. In mid-March 2011, the Navy Hydrographic Center-Brazilian Navy (SMM), in coordination with the National Institute of Meteorology, monitored and named Subtropical Storm Arani off the coast of southern Brazil. In March 2019, the SMM tracked Tropical Storm Iba, which was the first fully tropical system to be named from the Brazilian naming list. The next tropical storm in the basin was Tropical Storm Akará in February 2024.

Storm names The following names are published by the Brazilian Navy Hydrographic Center's Marine Meteorological Service and used for tropical and subtropical storms that form in the area west of 20ºW and south of equator in the South Atlantic Ocean. Originally announced in 2011, the list was extended from 10 to 15 names in 2018. In 2022, 32 new names were added after the previous ones were exhausted. The names are assigned in alphabetical order and used sequentially without regard to year.

Retirements Kamby was replaced by Kurumí in 2018 without being used.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with South Atlantic tropical cyclone

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what South Atlantic tropical cyclone claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In earth science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to South Atlantic tropical cyclone before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about South Atlantic tropical cyclone ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of South Atlantic tropical cyclone

In research: South Atlantic tropical cyclone appears in earth science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses South Atlantic tropical cyclone in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: South Atlantic tropical cyclone is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Climate of Brazil, Cyclones in South America, South Atlantic tropical cyclones, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for South Atlantic tropical cyclone outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study South Atlantic tropical cyclone in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what South Atlantic tropical cyclone means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain South Atlantic tropical cyclone out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is South Atlantic tropical cyclone in simple terms?

Why does South Atlantic tropical cyclone matter?

Because it connects several earth science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study South Atlantic tropical cyclone?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on South Atlantic tropical cyclone.