The sudden increase in air temperature associated with strong gusty winds of northerly direction is a phenomenon occasionally observed during the cold season in the central region of Rio Grande do Sul (RS) state, located in extreme southern Brazil. This geophysical flow, which is known as Vento Norte (VNOR; Portuguese for “North Wind”), promotes temperature variations that depart significantly from the local cold-season climatology. In this study, eleven years of surface meteorological observations collected at seven weather stations distributed over central RS are employed to investigate the regional extension of the effects of the VNOR windstorm. The analysis revealed that the sharp increase in temperature and in wind magnitude caused by VNOR is observed over a rather wide region of central RS. However, it is in the vicinities of the city of Santa Maria, located just south of an abrupt drop in terrain elevation, that the most intense VNOR effects are observed suggesting a downslope enhancement of the windstorm. A detailed investigation of the meteorological data also showed that the duration of the VNOR windstorm is well correlated with the magnitude of the maximum wind gusts, with the most intense VNOR events also lasting longer. VNOR events occur more frequently in the period between the morning (0700 LST) and early afternoon (1400 LST). The onset of the windstorm is detected predominantly during overnight and morning hours, with 70% of VNOR cases initiating between 0000 and 1000 LST. Regarding the VNOR demise, 66% of the windstorms dissipate between early afternoon and early evening hours (1200–1900 LST). Results from this study are applicable in the areas of atmospheric diffusion and local weather forecasting.

与北向强阵风相关的气温突然升高是在位于巴西极端南部的南里奥格兰德州 ( RS ) 州中部地区的寒冷季节偶尔观察到的现象。这种被称为北风（VNOR；葡萄牙语为“北风”）的地球物理流动促进了明显偏离当地寒冷季节气候的温度变化。在这项研究中，利用分布在RS中部的 7 个气象站收集的 11 年地面气象观测资料 来调查VNOR影响的区域扩展 风暴。分析表明，在RS 中部相当广泛的区域观察到由VNOR引起的温度和风级急剧增加。然而，在圣玛丽亚市附近，位于地形海拔突然下降的南部，观察到最强烈的VNOR 效应表明风暴的下坡增强。对气象数据的详细调查还表明，VNOR 风暴的持续时间与最大阵风的幅度密切相关，最强烈的VNOR 事件持续时间也更长。VNOR 事件发生在早上（0700 LST）和下午早些时候（1400 LST）之间的时间段更频繁。暴风雨的发生主要在夜间和早晨检测到，70% 的VNOR 病例在 LST 0000 到 1000 之间开始。关于VNOR的 消亡，66% 的风暴在午后和傍晚（1200-1900 LST）之间消散。这项研究的结果适用于大气扩散和当地天气预报领域。