- ‘Unusual’ Tropical Storm Akara forms in South Atlantic off coast of Brazil
Forecasters are tracking Tropical Storm Akará off the coast of South America, which became a rare tropical storm on Monday in a part of the Atlantic Ocean that is usually void of tropical cyclone activity.
The Brazilian Navy last reported on Monday the storm was approximately 350 nautical miles southeast of the city of Florianópolis, the second-largest city of the Brazilian state of Santa Catarin, and moving south.
The system brought heavy rain to parts of South America before pushing offshore, and because of its trajectory, the system is not a threat to the mainland. The Brazilian Navy and the Brazilian National Institute of Meteorology are forecasting marine impacts, with large offshore waves up to 16 feet and winds up to 50 mph.
Ocean temperatures are plenty warm to support tropical cyclone activity, but upper-level winds are usually too hostile to support significant ones in the South Atlantic.
According to NOAA’s Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the system continued to organize and intensify Sunday and into Monday, eventually reaching tropical storm strength with winds greater than 40 mph.
Akará is the first named system in the South Atlantic Basin since 2022. The last named system to form in this region was Subtropical Storm Yakecan.
The U.K. Met Office said the “unusual” tropical storm is expected to move southward and remain off the coast of southeastern Brazil.
Water temperatures are estimated to be in the lower to mid-80s, which is sufficient to support tropical cyclone activity.
As the cyclone spins in the ocean clockwise – the opposite of a Northern Hemisphere hurricane due to the Coriolis effect – it is not expected to threaten any land areas.
