This afternoon, the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA) issued new warnings for bad weather approaching Madeira and Porto Santo.
After having already issued yellow warnings for maritime unrest on the North Coast and Porto Santo until October 22nd, IPMA raised the warning to orange between 8pm on the 21st (Saturday) and 11am on the 22nd (Sunday). ), then changing back to yellow until 5 pm that same day. (This is the reason the Lobo Marinho will only leave Funchal at 1pm on Sunday)
However, the organization has now also added new yellow warnings for precipitation and strong wind.
According to IPMA, the yellow warning for precipitation will extend between 3 pm and 9 pm on October 21st (Saturday), on the North Coast, South Coast and Mountainous Regions, with “periods of rain or showers, sometimes heavy and accompanied by thunderstorms”.
The rain could be a bit of nothing or a lot of something, and it’s something that is being watched hourly to see how it develops. Updates will be put on my blog.
Saturday evening could be a little complicated for the airport also.
As for strong wind, the IPMA yellow warning, which begins at 5 pm on the 21st (Saturday) and ends at 5 am on the 22nd (Sunday), predicts “strong wind from the northwest with gusts of up to 75 km/h” on the North Coast, in Porto Santo and in the Mountainous Regions, although in this area gusts can reach up to 100 km/h.