 On the west coast of South America, there’s an unlikely sight to behold: a bone-dry desert bordering the Pacific Ocean called the Atacama Desert. This arid desert extends from the west coast of Chile and spills over the bordering nations of Argentina, Peru, and Bolivia. While it’s not truly the driest place on the whole planet (that distinction goes to certain parts of Antarctica), it’s the driest hot desert on Earth, receiving less than 0.6 inches of rain on average the whole year. Interestingly, some weather stations in the desert have never received rainfall at all! At first, it may seem bizarre that a location right next to the ocean would be so incredibly dry, but upon further inspection it is evident why this desert is here.
The Atacama Desert can attribute its astoundingly low precipitation to a combination of several “drying” factors: the subtropical high, a double rain shadow, and the cold ocean current running up the west coast of South America. These factors work together to make an amazing synthesis of dry conditions that form the unique climate of the Atacama. The first factor, the subtropical high, is a global wind and pressure belt that can be found around 30 degrees North or South, right around where the Atacama Desert is. This pressure belt stretches around the world at this latitude and suppresses the formation of clouds by making it difficult for air to rise. Naturally, this creates a zone of low precipitation. Many areas around the world under the subtropical high have lower rainfall levels, but none quite as low as the Atacama. That’s because there are other influences at work here. The second factor is the double rain shadow over the desert. A rain shadow is an area that receives less rainfall as a result of a nearby mountain chain. Oftentimes, a mountain will have a prevailing wind blowing into one side of it, and that receives a lot of rainfall because that wind pushes the moisture in the wind up the mountain, creating clouds and precipitation. Consequently, the other side of the mountain often has less rain because there’s much less moisture in the air. This phenomenon affects the Atacama Desert on two fronts: the Andes Mountains and the Chilean Coast Range. The desert is primarily on the leeward side of each mountain chain, which is where the rain shadow is for mountain ranges, further decreasing the amount of rain the desert gets. The third major factor that keeps the Atacama Desert so dry is the cold ocean current that runs adjacent to the coast of South America. This cold current decreases the temperature of the surrounding air, making it unable to accumulate a good deal of moisture over the ocean (since cold air can’t “hold” as much moisture as hot air). Of course, this means that the desert doesn’t have much of a chance to receive moisture from the ocean next to it, making it even drier. Overall, the Atacama Desert is an important desert to study because it encompasses many important aspects of climate. Not only this, but the desert impacts the well-being of the people that live in or around it. Understanding how the climate of the area came to be is important to understand how climate works, how it changes the environment, and how it impacts people in its environment. While the Atacama desert is a statistical oddity, the factors that influence it are in no way foreign and are essential to understand for anyone who wishes to comprehend how the world’s climate works. To learn more about other global climate topics, be sure to click here! © 2019 Weather Forecaster Cole Bristow
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 Credit: College of DuPage GOES 16 DISCUSSION: While the summer heat takes hold across portions of the Northern Hemisphere, the Southern Hemisphere is dealing with winter and in some locations snow. The longest continental mountain range in the world runs across the western coast of South America. With the length over 4500 mi, and the highest peak over 22,800 ft, the Andes mountains are impressive. While the Southern Hemisphere receives much less snow than North America, the next several days will feature snowy conditions across portions of the Andes, mainly in Chile and Argentina. Image Set 1 Description: The first two images are model representations for the afternoon/evening hours South America local time on Tuesday, or 18Z. Circled in the bottom left of both images is the disturbance that produces the first significant shot of snow and moisture. The 500 mb map, first image, shows a short-wave trough (inverted because of the Southern Hemisphere) while the second image shows the induced deep mid latitude cyclone just downstream of the 500 mb trough. The surface pressure pattern and simulated precipitation rate are depicted in the second imagery showing rain along the coast and snow across the higher elevations. Image Set 2 Description: These next two images represent overnight Thursday. By this time a much deeper trough dove south and is now paralleling the coast. The 500 mb pattern shows not only the intense energy associated with this system via the vorticity, but also the strong winds with 50+ knots across the region. The surface pattern in the following image shows the precipitation once again with intense snows continuing along a narrow band with other areas of snow across the general area. Let’s look at the atmospheric setup that will produce these snows. A disturbance with an associated cold front moved through on Monday, June 24th and set the stage advecting in a cold air mass and producing snow. The next short-wave trough is currently diving into the region Tuesday, June 25th and develops an intense mid latitude cyclone. This system tracks across far southern South America inducing rain and snows across Chile and Argentina as a moisture surge pushes into central and southern portions of the Andes. Snow has fallen with more heavy snow being modeled on the way. The next system is a large, slow-moving upper level system with a reinforcing shot of cold air. Impressive energy aloft (500 mb vorticity and strong winds), a strong jet streak (upward motion), along with the terrain (the mountains provide a source of low to mid-level upward motion), create the perfect scenario on the large scale for heavy precipitation. All levels of the atmosphere come together to produce a long lasting rather heavy snow event for regions of the Andes. The slideshows above show the progression of the upper levels/surface. Image Set 3 Description: A comparison of the ECMWF (first image) and GFS (second image) is shown above, credit to Windy.com. Both models over the next 5 days show several feet of snow across the border of Chile and Argentina. Whether these amounts are a bit elevated or not remains to be seen, however the relatively good agreement in the models gives confidence in the result of a robust snow event. The third image represents the snow depth anomaly through the weekend. When all is said and done, feet of snow are being modeled to fall across Chile and Argentina (comparison of GFS and ECMWF shown above). To put this event in perspective, the graphic above from Pivotal Weather shows the GFS forecasted snow depth anomaly (also above in the slide show). By late this week, positive anomalies are off the charts! It will be interesting to see this event unfold, GOES 16 on the College of DuPage site is a great area to view this storm. Click here to watch this event or South American weather in general via satellite imagery! To learn more about South American weather click here! ©2019 Meteorologist Joe DeLizio  Chances are, you’ve seen lightning light up the sky numerous times. Thunderstorms, and the lightning associated with them, are fairly common occurrences, depending on where you live. If you’re in Lake Maracaibo, Venezuela, for example, you’ll likely be seeing lightning more days than not. With lightning occurring on average nearly 300 days of the year, it is no surprise that this area has been crowned the lightning capital of the world. This persistent lightning is also known as Cataumbo Lightning. Catatumbo lightning refers to lightning that occurs over the area where the Catatumbo River feeds into Lake Maracaibo. This lightning occurs in the cluster of thunderstorms that form when strong winds move up the mountains surrounding the lake around sunset. These winds cause warm, moist air to rise and lead to the formation of cumulonimbus clouds that produce lightning. This is not an uncommon way for thunderstorms to form, so why is Catatumbo lightning so persistent?
The Maracaibo Basin Nocturnal Low Level Jet is a moving jet of air, located roughly 1 kilometer high, that transports warm, moist air from the Carribean Sea and Lake Maracaibo to the southern basin of Lake Maracaibo. When this jet interacts with the mountains surrounding the lake, the warm, moist air must rise, as there is nowhere else for it to go, causing the thunderstorm formation previously discussed. Since this jet is a consistently occurring nighttime feature in this region, these thunderstorms and subsequent lightning are also a consistent feature. While this low-level jet is a daily occurrence, the determining factor to the occurrence of this lightning phenomenon largely depends on the moisture levels, which change throughout the year. During El Nino, for example, the air is typically drier and this could potentially affect the behavior of this phenomenon. This has prompted research into the effects of moisture on the timing of the occurrence of Catatumbo lightning in an attempt to better predict the seasonal occurrence of this phenomenon. To learn more about other atmospheric phenomenon across Central and South America, be sure to click here! ©2019 Meteorologist Stephanie Edwards  DISCUSSION: The United States may be the tornado capital of the world, but severe weather (e.g., severe thunderstorms, hail, etc.) occurs frequently in other parts of the world like the east side of the Andes in Argentina. In particular, thunderstorms there in Argentina tend to mirror storms in the United States that produce tornadoes, but the ones in Argentina tend to not produce tornadoes. However, they can cause extensive flooding and hail damage and be prolific lightning producers. A picture of such a storm over farmland is shown above.
There are a lot of unknowns concerning these storms in South America, including why they don't tend to produce tornadoes, despite possessing many of the characteristics believed favorable for such circulations. To improve our understanding of these South American storms and to reduce the fatalities and damage they cause, two related field campaigns are currently being conducted from 1 November through mid-December. The first campaign is called the Remote sensing of Electrification, Lightning, and Mesoscale/microscale Processes with Adaptive Ground Observations (RELAMPAGO) which includes a collection of mobile weather instrumentation brought in from the United States. This is the largest such field program conducted outside the United States. The focus of the second project is related to how aerosols (small particles in the atmosphere) influence the development of convective storms. It is possible, for example, that more particles in the atmosphere may make it harder for clouds to produce rain, rainout, and dissipate, allowing storms to persist longer and grow bigger and stronger. This second project is called the Cloud, Aerosol, and Complex Terrain Interactions (CACTI) project. Funding for both of these projects is being provided from United States (e.g., National Science Foundation), Argentina, and Brazil national research agencies. Many such field programs have been conducted in the United States to improve our understanding of storms there. These have resulted in better watches/warnings and better protection of lives and property. The aim of these two field programs in South America is similar (i.e., mitigation of storm losses). Some specific goals of these projects is to give people better warnings about flash flooding or give them more lead time to prepare their crops for an impeding hail storm. For more information about these field campaigns, please click here. To learn more about other atmospheric phenomenon across Central and South America, be sure to click here! ©2018 Meteorologist Dr. Ken Leppert II  DISCUSSION: On January 18, photographer David Alvarado captured an incredible view of iridescent clouds over Lamas, San Martin Peru. These clouds were composed of vivid colors, and demonstrate the process of diffraction in the atmosphere. In these photos, almost all colors of the visible spectrum of light can be seen with blue and green being the more prominent hues. Iridescent clouds are caused by a process known as irisation, or what is more commonly referred to as diffraction. While light is commonly described by being composed of several photons, light can also be described as a wave. In fact, this wave-particle duality is of extreme importance in the field of physics.
Diffraction is the process in which a wave, in this case light from our Sun, encounters an obstacle like water vapor, or small ice crystals. The process of diffraction can be visualized the same way as when water strikes a pier along a coastline. The water cannot pass through the pier so they bend around the pier. As the light interacts with these nearly microscopic particles, the light scatters into the colors that our eyes perceive. The scattering of light is due to constructive interference, or when two waves align to produce a wave with larger amplitudes. Usually, the process of irisation occurs with clouds that form higher in the troposphere. The troposphere extends upward to near 10 to 12 kilometers or 6.2 to 7.4 miles and is where most of weather occurs on Earth. Some examples of clouds that form at these altitudes are altocumulus, cirrocumulus, and cirrus. These cloud types are thinner optically, allowing for the light to encounter less drops as necessary. Irisation is also more commonly observed in the early stages of cloud formation because the water vapor or ice crystals have a similar shape and size. The main difference between iridescent clouds and those produced by solar and lunar haloes is droplet and/or ice crystal size. Iridescent clouds form from smaller particles where as haloes are created from larger particle sizes. Iridescent clouds can also form on the top of thunderstorms which are commonly referred to as pileus caps. During a thunderstorm, the convective cumulus cloud rises and pushes air upward with it. Moisture that rapidly condenses at this altitude produces tiny cloud particles of efficient optical thickness and size to facilitate the diffraction of light. The diffraction of light is seen as beautiful colors similar to a rainbow. To learn more about other atmospheric phenomenon across Central and South America, be sure to click here! ©2018 Meteorologist Allan Diegan    As hurricane season reaches peak activity based on climatology, Central America is in the cross-hairs yet again as tropical storm Harvey forms north of Venezuela in the Atlantic. Harvey is expected to track due west over the next few days before turning west-northwest and impacting portions of Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Belize, and the Yucatan Peninsula into early next week shown in the image above from the National Hurricane Center. A preliminary forecast indicates heavy rains and tropical storm force winds are possible, especially along coastal sections of the aforementioned areas.
The National Hurricane Center is currently forecasting Harvey to remain a tropical storm until landfall. One thing to consider is the recent trends with tropical activity this season. For example, Hurricane Gert was not expected to reach category 2 status and Franklin strengthened rapidly to a category 1 hurricane before making landfall in eastern Mexico. Based on this trend, residents in Central America should watch this forecast closely over the next few days. As of Friday morning, August 18th, tropical storm Harvey looks healthy with deep convection around the core of the storm shown above in the visible and enhanced water vapor satellite imagery (credit WeatherTap). This hints at the fact that Harvey will begin to strengthen further, but to what extent? As this situation continues to become more fine-tuned, be sure to follow GWCC to view the latest on tropical storm Harvey and other Central America weather news by clicking here! ©2017 Forecaster Joseph DeLizio  DISCUSSION: Although much of the world's attention is currently attracted to the majestic presence of Major Hurricane Fernanda churning it up across the open waters of the Eastern Pacific Ocean, there is another story to behold across western South America. This story is best described by a winter storm which just impacted areas both in and around the city of Santiago, Chile. This winter blast was a direct result of onshore flow moving towards and over the Andes which run directly along the city of Santiago. Hence, this was a perfect set-up for there to be a classic occurrence of orographically-enhanced snowfall (i.e., snowfall which experiences an increased hourly snowfall rate as a result of air parcels being forced up and over a mountain side). To learn more about this particular event from both Meteorologist Jordan Rabinowitz (from the Global Weather and Climate Center) and Meteorologist Derek Van Dam (from the CNN World Weather Center), watch the brief video briefing above.
To learn more about other high-impact weather events occurring across Central and South America, be sure to click here! ©2017 Meteorologist Jordan Rabinowitz  DISCUSSION: Throughout the past few decades, rapid and unusual warming of Pacific Ocean waters off the coast of Peru has been known to unleash deadly downpours on the country. This year was no exception. A local El Niño phenomenon has produced record rainfall and dangerous landslides in March. Deemed to Peruvians as the worst series of floods in living memory, the destruction has amounted to approximately $3.1 billion, as of April 13, 2017.
According to Peru’s emergency operations center, more than 100 people have lost their lives, 158,000 have been displaced, and 210,000 homes have been destroyed. The country’s infrastructure has taken a major hit as well; nearly 3000 kilometers (1864 miles) of roads are unusable and 260 bridges have collapsed, cutting off entire towns and villages. At the start of the year, the nation was preparing for a drought. Yet this year during its rainy season, Peru received ten times the amount of rain than normal. The floodwater was able to run off the arid land, triggering landslides in flood-prone areas. Known as the “landslide season,” Peru’s rainy season falls mainly in the first quarter of every year. Now many Peruvians will spend the remainder of their lives rebuilding from the nation’s natural destruction. To learn more about other high-impact weather events occurring across Central and South America, be sure to click here! ©2017 Meteorologist Nicholas Quaglieri 
DISCUSSION: Earlier in the day on Monday, there were fairly strong storms which formed along a sea breeze front on the western coast of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula in this visible imagery captured by GOES-16 on April 3, 2017. This was a result of efficient air mass collision across western sections of the Yucatan Peninsula in central Mexico. As clearly shown in the animated visible satellite imagery (attached above), there was rapid convective development with the associated updrafts across the western Yucatan Peninsula which was enhanced by strong air parcel buoyancy courtesy of more-than-sufficient convective available potential energy.
This animation, which was created with the Advanced Baseline Imager's (ABI) visible-red band (Band 2), clearly shows the "over-shooting tops" and rough texture of the tops of the storm clouds, which is indicative of strong vertical updrafts. In doing so, it provides a glimpse of how GOES-16 will enhance weather forecasting by providing meteorologists with high-resolution imagery of developing storms that they can use to analyze atmospheric or meteorological phenomena in near-real time. This animation appears courtesy of our partners at the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA). To see more animations, visit their website at goo.gl/faexRt. To learn more about other high-impact weather events occurring across Central and South America, be sure to click here! ©2017 Meteorologist Jordan Rabinowitz Storms Blossom Across North-Central Argentina! (credit: NOAA Satellite and Information Service)2/27/2017 
DISCUSSION: As we get further into winter and closer to the onset of Spring and the general threat for severe weather, many parts of the world brace for the inherent threats which are associated with severe thunderstorms. For more specifics on the details of the animated visible satellite graphic above, feel free to read the exact excerpt above courtesy of the NOAA Satellite and Information Service.
"This incredible 30-second rapid-scan animation from GOES-16 demonstrates the very high spatial and temporal resolution from the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI). The rapid scan sector was set over north-central Argentina, which includes the city of Córdoba, where it captured some expected severe storms during an active late-summer weather pattern. This region is known to have some of the most extreme storms in the world. The animation was created with the ABI band 2, its primary visible channel. Many interesting and important features of the near storm environment and convective clouds themselves are readily apparent. Differential motion between the developing thunderstorms and the low level clouds indicates the presence of converging low-level air leading to the rapid development of these storms. Apparent rotation in the boiling cloud tops suggests intense updrafts or vertical motion in these storms. Severe hail was reported with at least one of the storms in the center of the domain around 2130 UTC. This movie provides a proof of concept for the RELAMPAGO (Spanish for “lightning”) field campaign. RELAMPAGO is an international project set for 2018-2019, whose goal is to study high impact weather and hydrometeorological extremes in central Argentina. It will also provide additional validation data sets to assess the ABI and Geostationary Lightning Mapper performance. Also of note is this data collection represents our first outside continental US test of the rapid scan capability of ABI on severe local storms. See more imagery at http://goo.gl/gyieng Note: GOES-16 data are currently experimental and under-going testing and hence should not be used operationally." To learn more about other high-impact weather events occurring across Central and South America, be sure to click here! ©2017 Meteorologist Jordan Rabinowitz Major Flash Flooding Event Hits Lima, Peru! (credit: Municipalidad de Huachipa via WeatherNationTV)2/1/2017 
DISCUSSION: As strong thunderstorms persisted over areas both in and around the city of Lima, Peru, there was increasingly more prevalent threat for flash flooding across many areas. As shown in the video above, the heavy rainfall which fell in and around the city of Lima had serious repercussions on roadways with many being washed away and/or severely damaged. It is always imperative to respect the power of Mother Nature when you are in an area which is expected to imminently or soon be threatened by heavy rainfall. Moreover, do your best to avoid valleys or dirt-based roadways since these will often become the most treacherous the quickest as heavy rainfall creates deep mud on such roadways (thereby making it dangerous and/or near-impassible to get through such regions). It goes without saying that the best way to avoid putting yourself in harms way is to always seek higher ground and avoid being positioned on the side of mountains and/or at the base of a given valley since there you will be at the most risk for being impacted by a landslide and/or mudslide.
To learn more about other high-impact weather events occurring across Central and South America, be sure to click here! ©2017 Meteorologist Jordan Rabinowitz  DISCUSSION: As of earlier this afternoon, forecasters working at the NWS National Hurricane Center (located in Miami, Florida) were studying the evolution of a slowly strengthening Tropical Storm Otto. Based on a plethora of information ascertained from large-scale satellite structure and intensity estimates that this tropical storm officially reached hurricane status as of the 4:00 PM EST NHC update. In the associated forecast advisory update from earlier this afternoon (included below for your convenience), they discussed specific details concerning the future track and anticipated impacts from Hurricane Otto.
Tuesday 22 November 2016 NHC Hurricane Otto Forecast Discussion: "RAINFALL: Outer rain bands from Otto are expected to produce rainfall accumulations of 4 to 8 inches over San Andres and Providencia islands, and the higher terrain of central and western Panama and southern Costa Rica through Wednesday. Total rainfall of 6 to 12 inches, with isolated amounts of 15 to 20 inches, can be expected across northern Costa Rica and southern Nicaragua through Thursday. These rains will likely result in life-threatening flash floods and mud slides. WIND: Tropical storm conditions are expected within the warning area in Panama tonight and are possible in the tropical storm watch area in Panama on Wednesday. Tropical storm conditions are expected in San Andres by late Wednesday. Hurricane conditions are possible within the hurricane watch area on Thursday. Tropical storm conditions are possible within the tropical storm watch area in Nicaragua on Thursday. SURF: Swells generated by Otto are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions over the next several days along the coasts of Panama, Costa Rica and Nicaragua. Please consult products from your local weather office." To learn more about other high-impact weather events from across the Caribbean, be sure to click here! ~Meteorologist Jordan Rabinowitz DISCUSSION: With the 2016 Summer Olympics right around the corner, here is what we can expect for the month of August in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Based off of Rio’s climatological past, August is often the coolest and driest month of the year for the city with an average temperature of 72°F and average precipitation of about 2 inches of rainfall. The capital of Brazil is classified as having a tropical savanna climate that closely borders a tropical monsoon climate according to the Köppen climate classification. Rio receives the majority of its rainfall during the summer months, which in the Southern hemisphere runs from December to March. August, therefore is winter in Brazil, but winters in Brazil are not cold by any means and no snow has ever been recorded in the capital since modern records have begun. Powerful cold fronts from Antarctica can often make their way through the city, but they moderate very quickly as the city is located right off of the Atlantic Ocean with water temperatures that sit at an average of 72°F as well. Air temperatures can vary wildly throughout the entire year in Rio, approaching 100°F several times a year, this combined with awfully high humidity levels can lead to heat index values approaching dangerous levels over 110°F. Other times of the year temperatures can dip down into the upper 30’s, this mainly occurs during the winter when the aforementioned polar fronts make their way through the region. The city receives over 42 inches of rainfall a year, with the bulk of that occurring during the summer months, when nearly half of the total rainfall falls between December and March alone. During this time period rainfall occurs quite often from extra-tropical cyclones off the adjacent Atlantic. For the month of August the average high temperature in Rio reaches 79°F, meanwhile the average low temperature is right around 66°F. The city usually sees around 7 days of rainfall for the month of August, which means with the 2016 Summer Olympics lasting from August 5 to August 21 we can generally expect about 2 days of rainfall during this time period, in a typical year. Looking at the latest weather models, forecasters are predicting a terrific start to the 2016 Summer Olympics with temperatures right around average for this time of year with an abundance of sunshine! To learn more about other high-impact weather events from across Central and South America, be sure to click here!  Dangerous Cold Snap Kills over 50,000 Alpacas in Peru (credit: Meteorologist Lauren Stuart)7/26/2016  DISCUSSION: Over 50,000 alpacas died during a recent cold snap in the Peruvian Andes. Clear skies over southern Peru caused by a persistent high pressure system have allowed temperatures to plummet in the nighttime hours. July is typically the coldest month of the year in Peru with an average temperature of only 20°F. However, temperatures this week have dropped as low as -5 °F. The dangerous cold has been devastating for poor, indigenous populations that rely on alpaca wool to make a living. The government of Peru has declared a state of emergency as the National Meteorological and Hydrological Service expects the cold temperatures to continue throughout the rest of the week. To learn more about other high-impact weather events from across South America, click here!
VOLCANIC ERUPTION IN EASTERN GUATEMALA! (credit: Betel Ramirez Matute via Severe Weather Europe)7/3/2016
DISCUSSION: Though this particular event is not directly associated with the atmosphere, as of earlier yesterday afternoon a violent volcanic eruption took place in Eastern Guatamela. More specifically, this volcanic eruption was associated with the Santa Maria Santaguito volcano yesterday afternoon (which is located in far Eastern Guatemala). Despite the fact that this is a geologically-based phenomena, this volcanic eruption will undoubtedly have tremendous consequences on global atmospheric flow patterns. This is due in part to the fact that in the wake of a volcanic eruption there is often are tremendous quantities of volcanic ash ejected into the middle and upper portions of the atmosphere. As this dense volcanic ash becomes suspended in the middle-to-upper atmosphere, this can affect the amount of incoming solar radiation as well as the operations of globally-operating commercial aircraft. This danger to commercial aircraft is directly due to the volcanic ash compromising or sometimes even destroying the functional ability of aircraft engines; endangering passengers and crew around the world. Moreover, locally across Eastern Guetamala where there were clearly much higher concentrations of volcanic ash even within the lower portions of the atmosphere, the combination of locally-suspended volcanic ash coupled with nearby convection can act to "rain-out" (i.e., bring the toxic volcanic ash down to the surface by means of being enveloped by falling precipitation). Thereafter, volcanic ash particles can often get caught in rainfall runoff and seep into the ground which can compromise water resources utilized for things such as hygiene, cooking, drinking, and/or agricultural production. Hence, volcanic ash can have far-reaching impacts beyond the initial eruption period itself as a consequence of natural atmospheric processes which are often found to exacerbate the problem. To learn more about other high-impact weather from across Central and South America, be sure to click here!
DISCUSSION: As a fairly strong low-pressure system quickly passed through Central and Eastern South America only a few days ago, there was intense lift and warm-air advection occurring. This combination of advection and lifting of warm/moist air led to a prolific rainfall event across Southern Brazil which dumped an average of 42 mm of rainfall across a large portion of the city of Porto Alegre and it persisted for several hours on the morning and afternoon of 15 May. Though the weather has become more settled since then across this part of Brazil, much flooding is still subsiding due to the heavy rainfall which collected in particularly lower-lying areas. Note the eye-grabbing lightning strike captured in the photo linked below which was associated with one of the stronger storms which moved through Porto Alegre! To see other interesting high-impact weather content from across Central and South America, be sure to click here!
DISCUSSION: As clear to partly cloudy skies predominated during the early to mid-afternoon hours today in and around Caracas, Venezuela, the combination of assorted ice particles at the right angles higher up in the atmosphere and the proper reflection and refraction of sunlight off of these ice particles helps to create what was observed as a 22° halo! Note the assortment of colors that is created through the process of light refraction in the upper atmosphere! For more on additional neat content from across Central and South America, be sure to click here!
DISCUSSION: As a disturbance moved through parts of the Yucatán Peninsula (particularly those areas across the eastern half of the peninsula), strong storms erupted some of which develop substantial rotation including the supercell time-lapse from Cancun Mexico as captured earlier this afternoon! Note how as the storm moved over this particular beach you can identify what appears to be the bounded weak echo region (BWER) based on the region within the core of the storm where you can partially see some clearing! Very neat stuff to down in Eastern Mexico! For more neat high-impact weather content from across Central America, be sure to click here!
DISCUSSION: As strong thunderstorms erupted much earlier yesterday morning over parts of Venezuela, some very impressive lightning striks unfolded with some of the more intense storms. As captured in the beautiful image below, this was just one classic example of a cloud-to-ground lightning strike directly over Lake Maracaibo located in Northwestern Venezuela! Being as though lightning is one of the number one killers among the various dangers from thunderstorms anywhere in the world. For more neat content on high-impact weather content from across Central and South America, be sure to click here!
DISCUSSION: As a strengthening low-pressure system moved across parts of Northern South America, heavy rainfall developed earlier today across parts of Venezuela. As seen in the footage below, torrential rainfall induced intense flash flooding across towns and cities in Northern Venezuela! Hopefully, people remained safe during the course of this heavy rainfall! For more high-impact weather content across South America, click here!
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