A Quantitative Study of Tornadoes in South America

This article aims to develop a quantitative study about tornado events in South America, in order to create a database to verify the locations that have suffered the most from the phenomenon and dedicated to the study of the subject. The information for carrying out such research was compiled from articles cited in Google Scholar (or Google Scholar), covering the period from 1985 to 2018. For the search, keywords such as "tornado" (in Portuguese), "tormienta de viento" (in Spanish) and "tornado" (in English). During the survey, the locations (city, country), the number of deaths and injuries, and the estimated speed were noted. Speed was based on the Enhanced Fujita Scale (EF), when this was not described in the body of the text, photos and descriptions of the destruction were analyzed to infer them. The results showed that there was a concentration regarding the phenomenon mainly in the "southeastern region of South America", and another region comprising Colombia and Venezuela, close to the coast of the Caribbean Sea. Brazil reported the highest number of events in the period (247), while Argentina and Uruguay had the most aggressive events (EF-4). Spring and summer are the most opportune seasons for the development of supercell clouds, similar to what happens in Tornado Alley.