Tropical Storm “Akará” forms off Rio de Janeiro as first TS in South Atlantic since 2019

On February 16, 2024, the Brazilian Navy identified a subtropical depression ESE of Rio de Janeiro, which intensified into Tropical Storm “Akará” by February 19. Akará is the first named tropical storm to develop in the South Atlantic Ocean since Iba in 2019 and the basin’s first named storm in February since Bapo in 2015. The system is expected to continue intensifying, but remain well away from Brazil.

Initially identified as a subtropical depression on February 16, the system transitioned into a tropical cyclone two days later. By the early hours of February 19, it had strengthened into a tropical storm, earning the name Akará from the Brazilian Navy. This event is particularly noteworthy as Akará is the first named tropical storm in the South Atlantic Ocean since Iba in 2019, and it marks the basin’s first named storm in February since Bapo in 2015.

The naming of such storms follows the official list of anomalous cyclones (subtropical or tropical) predicted by the Navy for the coast of Brazil, with Akará being the first name on the new list. Akará, named after a type of fish in the Tupi language, is expected to continue its intensification but remain well away from Brazil, posing no threat of making landfall according to global weather forecast models analyzed by MetSul Meteorologia.

At 23:30 UTC on February 18, Akará’s center was located about 580 km (360 miles) SSE of Rio de Janeiro and 690 km (429 miles) E of Florianopolis. The storm had maximum sustained winds of 75 km/h (45 mph), with a minimum barometric pressure of 1 000 hPa, and was moving southwest.

This development is one of the rare instances of a tropical storm forming along the Brazilian coast, as highlighted by MetSul meteorologists, with only a few similar events recorded this century.

“The occurrence of tropical storms in Brazil’s coastal regions is a rarity, with only four events noted in the 21^st century, including the notorious Catarina in 2004 and Anita in 2010, which some classify as a subtropical storm,” MetSul meteorologists said. More recently, Iba in March 2019 and an unnamed tropical storm (01Q) in February 2021 were recorded, neither causing significant damage.

The last named anomalous cyclone off the Brazilian coast was Subtropical Storm “Yakecan” in May 2022.

Unlike Yakecan, which caused damage and power outages affecting around a million people in Rio Grande do Sul, Akará is expected to stay in the open sea, steering clear of the coast and sparing the region from its potential impact.

References:

¹ Tempestade tropical Akará se forma na costa do sul do Brasil – MetSul Meteorologia – February 19, 2024

Featured image: Tropical Storm “Akara” at 14:30 UTC on February 19, 2024. Credit: NOAA/GOES-East, RAMMB/CIRA, The Watchers