Water Spout Weather Statement

[Admin]

http://dd.weatheroffice.ec.gc.ca/bulletins/alphanumeric/20120312/WO/CWVR/20/WOCN11_CWVR_122022___32741


SEVERAL WATERSPOUTS HAVE BEEN SIGHTED NEAR ALERT BAY THIS
AFTERNOON.

[The Invisible Man]

Holy crap! Don't waterspouts sometimes start out in the water then end up as tornadoes on land? I thought I read something like that recently happened down south?

A WATERSPOUT IS A ROTATING COLUMN OF AIR THAT FORMS OVER WATER AND
HAS TORNADO LIKE CHARACTERISTICS...HOWEVER WATERSPOUTS ARE DIFFERENT
THAN TORNADOS IN VARIOUS WAYS. WATERSPOUTS ARE LESS INTENSE THAN
TORNADOS AND WILL GENERALLY DISSIPATE QUICKLY AFTER MAKING LANDFALL.
WATERSPOUT GENERATION TENDS TO INCREASE OVER THE STRAITS THIS TIME OF
YEAR WHEN COOLER AIR MASSES COMBINE WITH THE WARMER WATERS OF THE
STRAITS. THIS GENERATES AN EXTREMELY UNSTABLE CONDITION WHICH CAN BE
CONDUCIVE TO WATERSPOUT FORMATION.

[Possum]

A waterspout is a tornado that forms over and fills with water. They are common on huge bodies of water and the only ones I've ever witnessed were located in Whitefish Bay at the east end of Lake Superior.

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