A climatology of intense wind gusts and their atmospheric environments in the Brazilian Amazon

The documentation and understanding of storms reaching severe thresholds remain limited in the Amazon. Investigating intense wind gusts and their environments is therefore essential to better understand the drivers and impacts of severe convection that can reshape forest structure, increase tree mortality, and pose risks to ecosystems and communities. This study presents the first multi-decadal (2000-2024) assessment of intense convective wind gusts (≥15 m/s) across the entire Brazilian Amazon, using hourly observations from surface weather stations from the Brazilian National Meteorological Institute (INMET). Intense wind gusts are widespread across the region and are more frequent during the dry-to-wet transition months of September and October, with a peak in the mid- to late afternoon. Wind gusts were accompanied by temperature drops, which were sharper in the dry and transition seasons (reaching −12.6°C), and pressure rises that were similar in magnitude across seasons. The atmospheric environments associated with the intense wind gusts are analyzed using the fifth-generation atmospheric reanalysis (ERA5) from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). Wind gust environments in the Brazilian Amazon are characterized by low wind shear compared to midlatitude regions. Extreme values of deep-layer shear rarely exceed 10 m/s, with median values near 5 m/s, and show little seasonal variability, remaining weak and similar across all seasons. The results indicate that thermodynamic factors prevail in conditioning the environments that are more favorable for intense gusts observed during the dry and transition seasons, being characterized by higher downdraft convective available potential energy, steeper lapse rates, and higher lifting condensation levels, particularly in the southern Amazon.