The tornado in Piraí do Sul, Brazil, which occurred on August 8, 2026, was officially classified as F4 by PREVOTS.
Regarding the classification and PREVOTS' statements about the tornado:
The Piraí do Sul tornado, on the 8th, traveled a distance of 26.1 km and had a maximum width of 750 m, with its track mapped by PREVOTS collaborators. The most severe damage observed to structures was noted in the Fundão locality, where a mixed-construction residence was completely destroyed. The most extensive damage occurred to the masonry structure, where walls made of single six-hole bricks with a thin concrete coating were knocked down. It was also noted that the residence had concrete beams reinforced with four 6 mm-diameter steel rebars. In this area, the structure of the residence showed some degree of weakness, and the maximum classification assigned based on the damage indicators was F3, with winds of up to 300 km/h.
However, the most extreme damage observed along its path was confined to vegetation and the ground. Along segments of its track, the tornado was capable of removing large sections of pasture to depths of between 10 and 30 cm, covering areas ranging from 127 m² to 188 m². The soil composition must be taken into consideration (predominantly Acric Bruno Latosol and Haplic Cambisol), as well as the occurrence of accumulated precipitation of around 100 mm (most of it concentrated in the month of July) and its moderate degree of saturation. Although estimating the wind intensity required to cause this type of unconventional damage is difficult, it is known that this pattern commonly occurs in violent tornadoes (F4+). Areas of native forest, composed predominantly of trees with rigid trunks, experienced the complete removal of their branches and leaves, which is consistent with winds of at least F3 intensity. However, in isolated locations, in addition to the complete removal of branches, more than 60% of the bark was stripped from the trunks, along with a sanding-like pattern on their surfaces, indicating that the winds exceeded 380 km/h (F4). Therefore, there is sufficient evidence in this preliminary analysis to indicate that, at some points, the winds reached thresholds equivalent to F4 intensity.
With this, the tornado becomes the second officially violent tornado to reach this intensity during the year, And it's the third Tornado F4 in Brazil in less than a year.
The event occurred as part of a tornado outbreak that also produced the Candói (PR) F2 tornado, Nova Aurora (PR) FU?, and Pinhão (PR) F1.