System of interest in the South Atlantic - Brazilian coast

[MetSul Weather Center]

Take a look at the pictures and FSU diagrams we just published in our Meteorologists blog. It is an interesting system. It is the same area where a tropical storm was observed in January 2004 off the coast of Northeast Brazil.

http://www.metsul.com/blog/?cod_blog=1

[MetSul Weather Center]

We are unable to acess the NRL Monterrey page. Is there any message on this system ?

[Typhoon Hunter]

Nothing on the Navy site I'm afraid, just typhoon Utor and invest 95W.

[MetSul Weather Center]

Thanks Hunter

Very often we are unable to see the NRL and FNMOC sites over here in Brazil. We do not know if they block to overseas as the web pages are military.

Thank you again.

[Typhoon Hunter]

Tell me about it! I live in China and have found ways of getting around the censors. Try using this remote proxy server:
http://proxy.ak58.com/

If it doesn't work first time try it again, usually works after the 5th time!

[MetSul Weather Center]

Very thankful. Here are some pictures regarding this system:

[P.K.]

Synoptic charts here Looks like this is down as a 1010hPa low in the last MetArea bulletin.

[MetSul Weather Center]

PK

Vitoria, the capital of state of Espirito Santo, is 200 km west of the system and has a pressure of 1.012. I believe the pressure is lower than indicated in the chart in the center of the low.

[P.K.]

Well it is now if the ship report is accurate. 1009.0hPa with 15.4m/s winds.

ID T1 TIME LAT LON DIST HDG WDIR WSPD GST WVHT DPD APD MWD PRES PTDY ATMP WTMP DEWP VIS TCC TIDE S1HT S1PD S1DIR S2HT S2PD S2DIR
(GMT) km ° ° m/s m/s m sec sec ° mb mb °C °C °C kmi 8th m m sec ° m sec °
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SHIP S 2100 -21.30 -38.40 53 231 50 15.4 - 3.0 5.0 - - 1009.0 - 23.0 26.0 - 4 8 - 4.0 8.0 90 - - 50

[JonathanBelles]

thats a TD, isnt it?

[Chacor]

IIRC 15.4 m/s = 30 kt, so yes, by wind-speed and pressure it would seem this is a system of TD strength. Looks good.

[JonathanBelles]

how do they get named down there?

[Coredesat]

They don't because there is no official body to name them. Catarina was only named because local meteorologists named it after Santa Catarina State, where it was headed.

[MetSul Weather Center]

They don't because there is no official body to name them. Catarina was only named because local meteorologists named it after Santa Catarina State, where it was headed.

Exactly !!!!

Here is tonight's Quickscat:

[Coredesat]

Looks fairly elongated based on that QuikSCAT.

[Chacor]

Off the state of Espírito Santo, Brazil, it looks like. Cyclone Espírito?

[wxman57]

Looks fairly elongated based on that QuikSCAT.

You looking in the right place? It's actually off the top of the image. Hard to see any circulation center.

[Chacor]

According to the HPC's David Roth, "It looks like it was at the tail end of a frontal zone, which makes its phase obscure, just by using that satellite image. However, our South American desk indicated it was a frontal wave on its surface analysis on December 12, so I'd say extratropical. A system spawned by a Mesoscale Convective Complex can form a warm core for a while, whether it is frontal or not, due to latent heat release of the convection."

[MetSul Weather Center]

According to the HPC's David Roth, "It looks like it was at the tail end of a frontal zone, which makes its phase obscure, just by using that satellite image. However, our South American desk indicated it was a frontal wave on its surface analysis on December 12, so I'd say extratropical. A system spawned by a Mesoscale Convective Complex can form a warm core for a while, whether it is frontal or not, due to latent heat release of the convection."

Great Chacor, but a MCS/MCC forming over water in Northeast South America and then becoming an extratropical cyclone would be the supreme aberration here in South America. By the way, here is the definition of extratropical cyclone by NOAA:

A cyclone in the middle and high latitudes often being 2000 kilometers in diameter and usually containing a cold front that extends toward the equator for hundreds of kilometers.

Well, this system formed over 20S, the same latitude of southern Cuba and Haiti in the Caribean. Extratropical cyclones are larger in diameter. This was a very small system. Here is an Acqua from yesterday interesting low off the coast of northeast Brazil.



Best Wishes !!