[ad_1]
Speaking to the Lusa agency, the meteorologist Nuno Moreira explained that the convective cells are associated with a depression in the Atlantic Ocean, traveling northeast and entering mainland Portugal this afternoon.
“What happened this morning in Beja and Palmela was the occurrence of disorganized convective cells, which we call supercells and which contain mesocyclones, a structure that can give rise to tornadoes, for example,” he said.
This morning, an intense storm hit several areas of the city of Beja, causing more than 100 trees to fall and damage to vehicles and infrastructure, a fire source said.
It was “a rapid phenomenon of strong wind and heavy rain, perhaps a mini-tour,” which started around 10:50 and crossed “about 20 arteries in the south / southeast of the city,” mainly causing trees to fall. , some on top of vehicles, explained the commander of the Beja Volunteer Firefighters, Pedro Barahona.
Also a phenomenon of strong winds that occurred today in Estrada do Lau, municipality of Palmela, district of Setúbal, caused the fall of large trees and electricity poles and damaged two houses.
A source from the District Relief Operations Command (CDOS) of Setúbal said, around 2 pm, that there were no injuries or displacements.
Asked whether the phenomena that occurred this morning in the Beja and Setúbal districts were related to the Paulette depression, which should cause a gradual worsening of the climate on the islands of Flores and Corvo, in the Azores, Nuno Moreira said that it does not affect to the mainland. , being to the northwest of the group of the western Azores.
“The depression that is off the Portuguese coast is a depression that has been monitored throughout this week, both by the IPMA and by the National Hurricane Center. [NHC, centro que monitoriza os furacões no Atlântico]”He emphasized, adding that it was not classified as a tropical storm, since insufficient tropical characteristics were identified.
On Tuesday, the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and Atmosphere reported that Hurricane Paulette was expected to hit the western Azores group this weekend as a post-tropical storm, having hit the Bermuda coast on Monday.
According to information available on Thursday on the IPMA website, at 2:00 p.m. in the Azores, the depression “was approximately 870 kilometers northwest of the island of Flores, with a minimum pressure in its center of approximately 980 millibars. ”, A shift to the south is expected.
Nuno Moreira also affirmed that the storm that hits continental Portugal today was not called tropical: “In addition to the fact that the NHC has not named this depression as a subtropical cyclone, the IPMA, together with its counterparts in Spain, France and Belgium, does not called this depression tropical “.
According to the meteorologist, it was necessary to verify winds with gusts exceeding 110 kilometers per hour (km / h) in the mountains and greater than 90 km / h in the rest of the national territory and to issue an orange wind alert to be considered. tropical storm.
In a statement, the IPMA recalled that the wind will remain moderate to strong with gusts of up to 75 km / h, and can reach 90 km / h in the mountains. A gradual decrease in unstable conditions is expected during the afternoon and a significant decrease in wind intensity in the early evening hours.
According to the IPMA, extreme wind events can continue to occur in the Central and South regions during the afternoon.
On Saturday, and until the beginning of next week, the climate on the continent will be conditioned by a new depression that will focus on the northwest of the Portuguese territory, forecasting the occurrence of showers and the possibility of electrical storms, most likely in the North and Center, with a light to moderate wind from the west quadrant, which blows strongly in the mountains.
