A source from the Portuguese Institute for Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA) confirmed that the Faro area was affected by a wind phenomenon causing “very intense and localized gusts” with potentially “destructive impact.”
According to Ângela Lourenço from IPMA, a line of wind moved across the entire southern region exhibiting “some organized convection,” resulting in an intense wind phenomenon. By 12:30 PM, this line had already begun entering Spain.
When asked if it could be classified as a tornado, meteorologist Ângela Lourenço stated that IPMA is still analyzing the data to determine the precise nature and category of the phenomenon.
Lourenço noted that conditions were forecasted to support wind phenomena occurring in the Algarve region, with the orange warning for the Faro district ending at 12:00 PM today.
The Regional Command of Emergency and Civil Protection of the Algarve reported that intense wind began around 11:30 AM, leading to several incidents, mainly in Faro, which had already been severely affected by bad weather on Thursday.
“The situation was primarily observed in the city of Faro. Besides that, we only recorded the fall of another tree across the region,” the source stated, explaining that it was more of a wind phenomenon than rain.
The Faro area was also one of the hardest hit by depression Cláudia on Thursday, with the city’s downtown suffering from flooding and wind causing trees to fall in various parts of the Algarve region.
Civil Protection teams are now working to remove fallen branches and parts of affected structures. They warned the public to avoid risky situations, as the depression could lead to further episodes of heavy rain and wind in the coming hours.
The Algarve and Alentejo are under an orange weather warning due to depression Cláudia, which is expected to bring rain and wind across the mainland and the Iberian Peninsula until Sunday, according to Civil Protection.
