The wind will be strong tomorrow from the southwest, into Thursday night. This could well cause some problems at the airport.
The Madeira Archipelago will be under an orange warning between 3:00 PM and 7:00 PM this Thursday due to rough seas, with waves expected to have a significant height of 5 to 7 meters, potentially reaching a maximum height of 12 meters.
These are the effects of Storm Leonardo, which will reach the mainland today, starting in the late afternoon, bringing persistent and sometimes heavy rainfall and wind gusts that could reach 75 kilometers per hour on the coast south of Cabo Mondego and 95 kilometers per hour in the highlands.
Regarding the Madeira Archipelago, the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and the Atmosphere has also placed the mountainous regions of Madeira Island under a yellow warning due to wind gusts up to 95 km/h between 9:00 PM tomorrow, Wednesday, and 9:00 AM on Thursday. In addition, there is also a Signal 6 (Bad Weather) warning for the archipelago, which corresponds to wind force 7 (51 to 62 km per hour) from any direction.
Taking into account these warnings from IPMA (Portuguese Institute of the Sea and the Atmosphere), the Port Authority of Funchal recommends that the entire maritime community and the general population take precautions, both when preparing to go to sea and when at sea or in coastal areas. It also recommends that owners and operators of vessels adopt the necessary precautions to ensure their safety.
Therefore, the Port Authority reminds the public of the need to reinforce moorings and maintain close surveillance of docked and anchored vessels; avoid walks along the sea or in areas exposed to sea agitation, such as port breakwaters, cliffs or beaches, to avoid being surprised by a wave; and refrain from recreational fishing, especially near cliffs and rocky areas frequently affected by breaking waves, always bearing in mind that under these conditions the sea can easily reach seemingly safe areas.
It should be noted that in addition to Madeira, several districts on the mainland and the Azores archipelago will be under warnings due to wind, rain, rough seas and snowfall.