Weather Tidbits: Waterspouts

We’ll be discussing waterspouts in this edition of Weather Tidbits. There are two kinds of waterspouts. Tornadic waterspouts and fair-weather water spouts. Tornadic waterspouts are associated with severe thunderstorms and have similar characteristics to land tornadoes. They develop from the cloud base to the surface just like a land tornado. A special marine warning will transition to a tornado warning if this feature makes it onto land. A fair-weather waterspout forms in quiet conditions with light winds. It could be a sunny day with some puffy cumulus clouds. These waterspouts form when cooler air is flowing over the warmer waters, which causes rising air, and can form lower pressure at the surface, which causes rotation. Thus, it’s more thermal-driven. Fair-weather waterspouts are typically much weaker and don’t survive too far inland.