The increase in the wind power predictability assumes a very important role for secure power system operation at minimum costs, especially in situations with severe changes in wind power production. In order to improve the forecast of such events, also known as “wind power ramp events”, the underlying role of some severe meteorological phenomena in triggering wind power ramps must be clearly understood. In this paper, windstorm and cyclone detection algorithms are implemented using historical reanalysis data allowing the identification of key characteristics (e.g., location, intensity and trajectories) of the events with the highest impact on the wind power ramp events in Portugal. The results show a strong association between cyclones/windstorms and wind power ramp events. Moreover, the results highlight that it is possible to use some features of these meteorological phenomena to detect, in an early stage, severe wind power ramps thus creating the possibility to develop operational decision tools in order to support the security of power systems with high amounts of wind power generation.