• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
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• v.10 no.5
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• pp.897-904
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• 2006

The eastern coast of northeastern Brazil (NEB), a coastal land-strip up to 300 km wide and stretching out from Rio Grande do Norte $(5^{\circ}S)$ State down to the south of Bahia State $(17^{\circ}S)$, experiences different rain producing systems, such as distrubances in the south-east trade winds, frontal systems penetration, land-sea breeze circulation and local convection associated with the topography and moisture flux convergence. The annual total rainfall ranges from 600 inland to 3000 mm on the coast. Rainfall totals 5 to 12 times the focal climatic means were recorded in various regions of Alagoas state in January 2004. It was estimated that 46,000 people were homeless, with material damages exceeding US$10 million as a consequence of the ensuing floods. GOES infrared images analysis showed that the main weather system responsible for this anomalously high rainfall totals was an Upper Troposphere Cyclonic Vortex (UTCV), which formed at about a $27^{\underline{\circ}}W\;e\;12^{\underline{\circ}}S$ and remained active for the entire month of January over NEB.