Deadly subtropical storm slams southern Brazil, Uruguay

Portions of southern Brazil and Uruguay were buffeted by strong winds, heavy rain and rough seas earlier this week as a cyclone churned just offshore. AccuWeather forecasters say this adverse weather was ushered into the area by a storm that the region does not encounter on a regular basis.

Cyclone Yakecan began to push rough weather over Brazil's southernmost state of Rio Grande Do Sul early on Tuesday. The cyclone slammed the area with robust winds throughout much of the day and caused significant tree damage and thousands of power outages.

Wind damage from the cyclone led to power outages for at least 182,000 homes in Rio Grande do Sul alone as of Tuesday night, according to the Associated Press (AP).

Damaging winds quickly reached farther south and pounded portions of Uruguay by later in the day Tuesday. As of Wednesday, across both southern Brazil and Uruguay, hundreds of thousands of power outages were reported by MetSul, a South American weather company.

At least two deaths have been attributed to the wrath of Yakecan as of Thursday.

According to SINAE, Uruguay's national emergency system, a man was killed north of the city of Montevideo after a tree fell on his home. In Rio Grande Do Sul, a 51-year-old man was killed when his boat capsized due to Yakecan, according to local authorities.

A satellite loop of the cyclone approaching the coast of South America on May 17, 2022.

Cyclone Yakecan was classified as a subtropical storm by Brazil's Navy, the tropical authority in that portion of the basin.

A subtropical storm is different from a tropical storm in a few ways, according to AccuWeather forecasters.

"A tropical storm typically has a warm core, which essentially means it needs warmer water to form, while subtropical systems are only 'partially tropical' and have characteristics that are a blend of tropical storms and mid-latitude cyclones," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Dan Pydynowski explained. "Subtropical storms often form early or late in the season when the water is only marginally warm enough to support development."

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Subtropical storms are not a rarity for this portion of South America, according to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Jason Nicholls.

"In 2021, there were at least four subtropical cyclones that formed in a zone that stretched from the coast of northeast Argentina to southeast Brazil," Nicholls said.

While not a rarity, Cyclone Yakecan brought Mother Nature's fury to southern Brazil and portions of Uruguay this week. The storm has since moved well offshore as of Thursday, but some impacts lingered as residents clean up the damage left behind.

Ahead of the worst impacts from Yakecan, authorities in Brazil took important steps to protect lives and property. Public buildings in the state of Rio Grande Do Sul were closed early, and classes in schools and universities were canceled ahead of the storm's worst impacts, according to the AP.

However, forecasters say Mother Nature is set to lend a helping hand to any residents cleaning up damage through the weekend and into the upcoming week.

"High pressure will promote dry weather in the affect areas through at least Tuesday," Nicholls said.

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