Waterspouts

We saw this waterspout on the coast of Devon in September 2008. It was the first time that either Lucy or myself had seen one and we were quite excited by it.

Waterspouts are effectively a tornado, but over a mass of water. If they came on land they would be classed as a tornado and would be likely to become much stronger than a waterspout, which is relatively weak. They appear frequently in the tropics, but less so in temperate regions, in which the UK resides. In our temperate climate we experience a few water spouts a year, with the earliest recorded waterspout in June 1233 off southern England.

There are two types of waterspout, the tornadic waterspout which begins on land and moves out to sea and the more common (and less dangerous) fair-weather waterspout. This was the fair-weather waterspout and didn't develop any further than the images on this post. We watched it for around 15 minutes before it dissipated.

The waterspout is a funnel-shaped column that descends from a cumulus-type cloud and is complete when it reaches a cone of spray rising from the sea. This happens when a cold air mass moves over the open sea or large lakes and blows over the warm water. The air then becomes humid, which causes strong convection currents to form, which when sufficiently stong allow the development of waterspouts.

Date Photographed: 17/09/2012
Location: Devon coast
Resources: A concise guide to Weather, Julie Lloyd, 978-1-4054-8802-0