Azores Situation Report Wednesday 9th October 2024
Storm Kirk passes north of the Azores, Tuesday
Storm Kirk will pass north of the Azores archipelago, tuesday and caused heavy rainfall, increased wind intensity and rough seas.
According to a statement from the IPMA Azores delegation, the storm “completed its transition to an extratropical cyclone” and, by 9:00 pm on Monday, its centre was approximately 500 km northwest of the Azores (Flores Island) and it was moving east.
The storm will pass north of the archipelago on Tuesday, affecting the weather on all the islands, “causing sometimes heavy rainfall, which may be accompanied by thunderstorms, an increase in wind intensity and sea agitation”, he said.
Wind gusts of “up to 115 km/h [kilometres/hour] and waves that could reach 11 meters in significant height (19 meters in maximum height) are expected in the Western Group” (Flores and Corvo).
In the Central Group (Faial, Pico, Terceira, São Jorge and Graciosa) “gusts of up to 90 km/h and waves that could reach a significant height of eight metres (15 metres maximum height) are expected”.
For the Eastern Group (São Miguel and Santa Maria), the IPMA predicts waves that “could reach a significant height of six meters (12 meters maximum height)”.
Due to the passage of storm Kirk through the Azores archipelago, the IPMA issued a red warning for this Tuesday for the islands of the Western Group due to the waves.
Orange and yellow warnings were also issued for the islands of the Western, Central and Eastern Groups, due to rough seas, wind and sometimes heavy rainfall.
According to a statement from IPMA, the islands of Flores and Corvo are under an orange warning, for rough seas, until midnight on Tuesday.
For the Central Group and due to rough seas, the orange warning is valid until 12:00 on Tuesday and the yellow warning is valid until 18:00.
The islands of Faial, Pico, Terceira, São Jorge and Graciosa are also under yellow warning due to wind until 6 pm.
The yellow warning for the Eastern Group, due to rough seas, is in effect until 6:00 pm on Tuesday.
Civil Protection records three incidents due to Storm Kirk
The Azores Regional Civil Protection and Fire Service (SRPCBA) recorded three incidents, from midnight this Monday, until around 11 am, following the passage of storm Kirk through the archipelago. According to the statement, the reported situations concern “a fallen tree in Angra do Heroísmo, on Terceira Island, which partially obstructed the road, damage to an electricity pole in Horta, on Faial Island and damage to a structure in Santa Cruz das Flores”, previously reported.
All incidents have been resolved.The Civil Protection of the Azores states that 76 operatives from the Fire Brigades of the Western and Central Groups are involved in this operation, with the support of 23 vehicles, which will remain on the ground under observation until the end of the orange warning in force. The SRPCBA recommends that the population continue to adopt the self-protection measures provided for phenomena of this nature.