The Portuguese Sea and Atmosphere Institute (IPMA) today placed the Eastern and Central groups of the Azores under an orange warning and issued a yellow warning for the entire archipelago due to the formation of the Hipolito depression.
According to a statement issued by the IPMA, the Hipolito depression, with an associated frontal system, was, at 06:00 on Thursday, “centered around 300 km southwest (SW) of Faial, with a pressure at its center of 980 hPa”.
“The Hipolito depression is expected to cause a significant increase in wind intensity, with gusts of around 110 km/h in the Central and Eastern Groups, and up to 100 km/h in the Western Group,” said the IPMA.
According to the source, the forecast indicates that the depression will also cause “an increase in sea turbulence, with waves that could reach a significant height of seven meters throughout the archipelago”.
“This weather situation is likely to be accompanied by heavy rainfall, which may be accompanied by thunderstorms,” he adds.
The IPMA states that the influence of this depression “should begin to be felt from the early hours of January 10 (Wednesday) and will continue until at least the weekend”.
Due to the approach of a cold frontal surface and the subsequent formation of the Hipolito depression, the IPMA has issued an orange warning due to wind (south-easterly direction) for the islands of the Eastern group (São Miguel and Santa Maria) and Central group (Faial, Pico, Graciosa, São Jorge and Terceira) between 17:00 local time (18:00 in Lisbon) on Wednesday and 07:00 local time (06:00 in Lisbon) on Thursday.
On Wednesday, the islands of the Eastern group are also under a yellow warning for wind (southerly direction, turning south-easterly) between 11:00 local time (12:00 in Lisbon) and 17:00 local time (18:00 in Lisbon).
The same warning will be in force for sea turbulence (waves from the west, passing to the south), from 11:00 local time (12:00 in Lisbon) on Wednesday and 08:00 local time (09:00 in Lisbon) on Thursday and for precipitation “sometimes heavy, possibly accompanied by thunderstorms”, between 20:00 local time on Wednesday (21:00 in Lisbon) and 11:00 local time on Thursday (12:00 in Lisbon).
On the islands of the Central group, the yellow warning for heavy rain is valid from 23:00 local time on Tuesday until 23:00 on Thursday and for wind (south quadrant) from 11:00 local time until 17:00 on Wednesday.
A yellow warning has also been issued for the same islands due to sea turbulence (waves from the southern quadrant), between 17:00 local time on Wednesday and 07:00 on Thursday.
Finally, the IPMA has today placed the two islands of the western group of the Azores (Flores and Corvo) under yellow warning for sea waves (westerly waves, temporarily turning northwest, until 23:00 local time on Tuesday), wind (southerly direction, turning southwest, between 11:00 local time and 20:00 on Tuesday) and sometimes heavy rain (between 14:00 local time and 20:00 on Tuesday).
The orange warning is the second most serious on the scale and is issued in a “moderate to high risk meteorological situation”, according to the IPMA.
The yellow warning, the least serious on a scale of three, is issued whenever there is a risk situation for certain activities depending on the weather situation.
