Hurricane Catarina located on terrain feature South Atlantic Ocean
Hurricane Catarina, or Cyclone Catarina (Portuguese pronunciation: [kataˈɾinɐ]) was an extraordinarily rare South Atlantic tropical cyclone, the only hurricane-strength storm on record in the South Atlantic Ocean. Catarina made landfall on Southern Brazil at peak intensity, with the equivalent of Category 2 hurricane-force sustained winds, on 28 March 2004.
The storm developed out of a stationary cold-core upper-level trough on 12 March. Almost a week later, on 19 March, a disturbance developed along the trough and traveled towards the west-southwest until 22 March when a ridge stopped the forward motion of the disturbance. The disturbance was in an unusually favorable environment with a slightly below-average wind shear and above-average sea surface temperatures. The combination of the two led to a slow transition from an extratropical cyclone to a subtropical cyclone by 24 March. The storm continued to obtain tropical characteristics and became a tropical storm the next day while the winds steadily increased. The storm attained wind speeds of 121 km/h (75 mph)—equivalent to a low-end Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir–Simpson scale—on 26 March. At that time, it was unofficially named Catarina and was also the first hurricane-strength tropical cyclone ever recorded in the Southern Atlantic Ocean. Unusually favorable conditions persisted and Catarina continued to intensify, and was estimated to have peaked with 1-minute sustained winds of 160 km/h (100 mph) on 28 March. The center of the storm made landfall between the cities of Passo de Torres and Balneário Gaivota, Santa Catarina soon afterward. Catarina rapidly weakened upon landfall and dissipated later that day.
Catarina was the first tropical cyclone to make landfall in Brazil since the beginning of reliable records; hence, the infrastructure and population were not specifically prepared for it, which led to severe damage. Although the storm was an unprecedented event, Brazilian officials took the appropriate actions and warned the public about the approaching storm. Residents heeded the warnings and prepared for the storm by either evacuating or by riding it out in their homes. Catarina ended up destroying 1,500 homes and damaging around 40,000 others. Agricultural products were severely damaged: 85% of the banana crops and 40% of the rice crops were lost in the storm. Three people were confirmed to have perished in the storm and 185 others were injured. Damages from the storm amounted to US$350 million (value in 2004).