During the afternoon through evening of November 7, 2025, a rare tornado outbreak occurred in the South Region of Brazil. The outbreak produced many tornadoes off of a cold front associated with an extratropical cyclone, most notably two violent tornadoes that were spawned from the same supercell. The first and more impactful of these tornadoes directly impacted the municipality of Rio Bonito do Iguaçu in Paraná, resulting in 90% of structures being damaged or destroyed, killing five, and injuring 835 people. The second violent tornado killed an additional person and cause extreme vegetation damage near Candói.
According to Simepar and MetSul Meteorologia, the tornado in Rio Bonito do Iguaçu was caused by the interaction between a mass of warm, humid air coming from the north of the country and a strong cold front advancing through the south, driven by an extratropical cyclone. The atmospheric conditions favored the formation of a supercell.
The warm air that was over southern Brazil, coming from the Amazon rainforest, increased thermodynamic instability, which was also intensified by the sharp drop in temperature, enabling the formation of other storms in the region, including at least three other tornadoes in the neighboring state of Santa Catarina.
In addition to the squall line produced by the cyclone, other determining factors for the formation of the tornado were low level jets directed westward across Santa Catarina and Paraná, increasing vertical wind shear and thus favoring tornadogenesis.
This violent, enormous and destructive tornado caused widespread destruction in the urban and rural areas of the municipality. According to the governor of Paraná, Ratinho Júnior, about 90% of the homes in Rio Bonito do Iguaçu were partially or totally destroyed. Of the impacted homes, it is estimated about 40% of them will need to be completely demolished and rebuilt.
The tornado killed at least six people (one indirectly) and injured 835 others. Among the victims was a 14-year-old girl who died from her injuries after the house where she was sheltering with her family collapsed. A supermarket also collapsed, trapping multiple people under debris. About 1,000 people were displaced, and approximately 4,000 people were affected directly or indirectly in total.
Several schools in the city suffered severe structural damage, and 22 of the 30 school buses available were also damaged by the storm, affecting more than 2,000 students. Classes were temporarily suspended for over 1,900 students in schools run by the state government. The Exame Nacional do Ensino Médio (ENEM), originally planned for 9 and 16 November, was cancelled in the city.
The tornado had widespread national and international repercussions, being described by meteorologists as one of the most intense ever recorded in Paraná. MetSul highlighted that the occurrence of an F3 tornado in southern Brazil is a rare event, comparable only to a few documented cases in recent decades.
This extremely destructive and large tornado, was formed from the same supercell as the other F4 tornado which had occluded before forming a new circulation, resulting on this tornado forming on Entre Rios district.
This tornado swept away >80% of native vegetation, composed by hardwood trees, debarking and uprooting was also noted. Various homes including a church were obliterated, ground scouring was also found at these points, the tornado also threw a commercial container away and almost completely destroyed a well-built mansion, a man also died due to his house collapsing on him.
All these factors leaded to upgrading the tornado rating from F3 to F4, making this the first occurrence in South America of two violent tornadoes in a single day since the 2009 Brazil and Argentina tornado outbreak.