Yes, We do Have Tornadoes in Brazil—The December 10th Tornado in São Paulo, Brazil

Early in the afternoon of December 10^th, 2000 an F0 to F1 tornado stroke part of the eastern São Paulo city (two million people within 200 km² area). Every year in the summer season from December to March, severe storms affect the São Paulo Metropolitan Area (SPMA) as well as other regions of the São Paulo State. Although these tropical storms result mainly in flash floods, responsible for the starting of the São Paulo Flood Warning System (SAISP), violent winds associated to the severe thunderstorms have occurred many times. Two meaningful episodes ocurred in 1991 left some damage patterns that could be classified as tornadoes or microbursts. Despite the damages and even based on surface dataset and reflectivity radar signals those episodes could not have a conclusion about the presence of the tornado. This work distinguishes itself from those previous because it was recorded by an amateur video maker. The tornado caused regular damages as roof liftings, falling trees, flying debris and power lines explosions. This work presents the recorded tornado, its developing environment from mesoscale models, satelite images and finally the reflectivity radar. Fortunatelly, this time it did not cause any death or serious injuries. Regarding the possibility of tornado events for the SPMA, the answer is: Yes, We do have tornadoes.