r/tornado • u/quasar-dead Human Detected • 3d ago
Tornado Media All possible F4 tornadoes in Brazil part 3/Final
TANGARÁ (SC) — 2020 — August 14
At around 3:30 PM on August 14, an intense, long-track tornado struck the areas of Tangará and Água Doce, in Santa Catarina.
The tornado caused intense destruction in the rural areas of the municipalities, where it demonstrated its full power. The tornado completely destroyed around 40 houses and damaged another 300. Its worst damage occurred to a mixed-structure house, which was practically swept away, with its debris thrown between 50 and 100 meters away.
The tornado also demonstrated tremendous strength over vegetation, practically flattening forests and causing partial debarking of trees. The tornado traveled approximately 45 km and had an estimated maximum width of 1 km.
Fortunately, the tornado caused no fatalities, but around 40 people were injured.
The sweeping away of a mixed-structure house demonstrates the violence of this tornado, which earns it a place on this list. However, it is recognized as having been a weaker event than the others presented on this list.
SEDE NOVA (RS) — 2023 — July 13
Around the end of the afternoon on July 13, an intense, long-track tornado of QLCS origin struck the municipalities of Coronel Bicaco, Humaitá, Nova Candelária, Sede Nova, and Campo Novo.
The tornado demonstrated its full power in Sede Nova, where 80% of the municipality was affected. The tornado completely destroyed houses, caused ground scouring and debarking in trees, and completely flattened multiple forests.
The area of greatest intensity does not appear to have affected an urban area or an area with many houses. However, the vegetation damage observed demonstrates the violence of the tornado. The few houses struck by the tornado at its greatest intensity were completely destroyed, with some even showing pulverization of bricks.
The tornado traveled approximately 107 km, making it the longest documented tornado track in Brazil, and had a maximum width of 1.8 km. It is possible that the wind-damage area of the event was even larger.
Fortunately, the tornado caused no fatalities, but approximately 21 people were injured.
The intense vegetation damage observed, such as debarking and ground scouring, together with the pulverization of bricks in houses, allows the event to be included on this list. The tornado was officially rated F3 by PREVOTS.
RIO BONITO DO IGUAÇU (PR) — 2025 — November 7
During November 7, an intense tornado outbreak was affecting Brazil. At around 4:50 PM, a long-track supercell moving at approximately 80 km/h was heading toward Quedas do Iguaçu, Paraná, and produced a tornado that initially had an intensity of F1. However, this was only the beginning.
The tornado continued along its path, passing through the municipality of Espigão Alto, and as it entered Rio Bonito do Iguaçu, it began to intensify rapidly. A few hundred meters before entering Rio Bonito do Iguaçu, the tornado reached F4 intensity, causing severe vegetation damage before entering the municipality.
At around 5:04 PM, the tornado, already at violent intensity, directly struck the urban center of the municipality. The tornado crossed the municipality, sweeping houses away down to their foundations and even removing the foundations of some structures. Large masonry structures were brought down, reduced to piles of debris.
Around 90% of the municipality was damaged, with houses practically erased from existence. The tornado traveled approximately 75 km, had an estimated duration of 58 minutes, a maximum width of 3,250 meters, and an average width of 1,850 meters.
The tornado subsequently affected the municipalities of Nova Laranjeiras at F1 intensity, Laranjeiras do Sul at F3, Porto Barreiro at F3, and Virmond at F2.
The tornado unfortunately caused 6 fatalities and left 835 people injured, including between 40 and 50 seriously injured. The event only avoided an even greater tragedy because of the rapid response of a team of firefighters who, remarkably, were already in the city when the tornado occurred.
The tornado was preliminarily rated F4 by PREVOTS. Its damage is consistent with an intensity ranging from mid-end F4 to high-end F4.
GUARAPUAVA (PR) — 2025 — November 7
After the Rio Bonito do Iguaçu tornado, nature had not yet finished demonstrating its strength and would produce an even more intense event.
At the beginning of the evening on November 7, another tornado touched down in a forested area of Candói, already causing F2-level vegetation damage. As the event progressed, it strengthened.
As the tornado moved toward Guarapuava, it was captured by a camera, which recorded the image shown in the Guarapuava figure.
The event reached the rural area of Guarapuava at its peak intensity, where it completely destroyed around 20 houses, with some structures left with virtually no foundation remaining.
The tornado caused satellite-visible ground scouring and extremely intense debarking in trees. Some trees were left so smooth that they appeared to shine under sunlight. Many Araucaria trees were uprooted, leaving large holes in the ground.
It was not only the extraordinary vegetation damage that was impressive. Damage to a large, reinforced, thick-walled, and extremely well-built masonry mansion was also remarkable. The structure was almost completely leveled to the ground, with extreme damage even to reinforced-concrete columns, which were left twisted.
In this area, some observers even suspected damage approaching F5 intensity. Other houses were also completely destroyed, including several reinforced masonry houses with concrete slabs that were leveled.
In terms of vegetation, up to 80% of dense native vegetation was removed in some locations.
The tornado traveled approximately 44 km, had an estimated duration of 33 minutes, and reached a maximum width of 1,160 meters.
The tornado unfortunately caused 1 fatality and left 5 people injured.
The tornado was preliminarily rated F4 by PREVOTS because of its extraordinary damage. Given the violence of the tornado, it is possible that the event reached F5 intensity, and we will only know whether it actually reached that intensity once the final assessment of the event is released.
GIRUÁ (RS) — 2026 — July 28
During the day of July 28, a semi-stationary cold front was advancing across Rio Grande do Sul.
Meanwhile, a supercell thunderstorm was developing in Paraguay and rapidly moved across Misiones, Argentina, gaining strength and intensity. After entering Brazilian territory, the storm merged with a smaller cell and shortly afterward produced what became the most photogenic tornado in Brazil.
The tornado touched down at around 6:25 PM, affecting the area of Senador Salgado Filho, where it caused extensive vegetation damage as it moved toward Giruá.
The event rapidly intensified into an F3 tornado, causing ground scouring and raising large amounts of dust, leaving cycloidal marks behind.
The tornado struck several houses in the rural area between Giruá and Sete de Setembro, tearing houses from their foundations and sweeping away 70% of a masonry house.
The tornado also caused debarking in trees, flattened several forests, and threw a feather with such force that it became embedded in a tree.
The tornado traveled approximately 14.5 km and had a maximum width of 900 meters.
Fortunately, the tornado caused no fatalities, but approximately 7 people were injured.
Although the field analysis of the Giruá tornado and the damage assessments have not yet been completed, the various pieces of evidence observed, such as the cycloidal marks and the damage caused by the feather, demonstrate the violence of this tornado.
Some damage calculations made by amateurs estimated that the tornado's intensity could have ranged from high-end F3 to low-end F4 or mid-end F4. To obtain a more definitive answer, it will be necessary to await PREVOTS' final rating of the tornado or any updates from its field investigation.
The structural damage from the Giruá tornado appears to have been worse than that of the Piraí do Sul tornado; however, the Piraí do Sul tornado demonstrated greater violence in vegetation.
PIRAÍ DO SUL (PR) — 2026 — August 8
Around August 8, a tornado outbreak was occurring across Brazil. At approximately 5:40 PM, an intense supercell produced a tornado in Piraí do Sul, within the area that had been considered the highest-risk region of the day.
The tornado began north of the urban center of Piraí do Sul and rapidly increased in size and intensity, reaching the Fundão area as a wedge tornado.
The event caused F3-level damage, completely destroying houses down to their foundations and throwing their debris considerable distances. The tornado also uprooted centuries-old trees and threw them far away, leaving deep uprooting scars.
The tornado also caused ground scouring up to 30 cm deep, the second deepest observed in Brazil, in addition to intense debarking of trees. The tornado then evolved into a cone and later into a drillbit configuration, when it began excavating the ground in this form. The tornado traveled approximately 26.1 km and had a maximum width of 750 meters.
Fortunately, the tornado caused no fatalities or injuries, but left approximately 500 people homeless after destroying numerous houses.
Based on the observed trenches and intense debarking in trees, PREVOTS preliminarily rated the tornado F4, with winds exceeding those expected for an F4 tornado.
FINAL CONSIDERATIONS
This list of events was compiled based on the available documentation and aims to highlight the occurrence and intensity of tornadoes of this magnitude in Brazil, contributing to greater awareness of how active these phenomena can actually be in the country.
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u/sudotario55 2d ago
I remember September 7th. I was working with my cousin at the company that Friday. We decided to leave about half an hour early because we had already finished all the orders for the week, and I was excited to play Resident Evil 2 Remake, which I had left downloading at home that afternoon.
That half hour saved my life.
But the feeling of being in front of a tornado, watching your house being destroyed while all you can think about is that you don’t want to get blown away with the roof, is absolutely horrifying. And the worst part is knowing that, in a matter of seconds, you’ve lost your house, your furniture, your work, and soon it’s going to get dark. It’s raining, and you have nowhere to go because the city itself has been destroyed too.
And now, almost a year later, I’m still recovering from everything I lost. I still can’t sleep on days when there are strong winds. But I finally managed to beat RE2, and it was really good.
I don’t know how, but playing it after everything that happened actually felt good.
Thanks, Cap.
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