Waterspouts are cyclonic wind events that occur over water, made up of swirling water droplets. They can be tornadic or fair weather, with tornadic waterspouts forming from thunderstorms and fair weather waterspouts forming under calm conditions. Tornadic waterspouts can be dangerous and destructive, while fair weather waterspouts are generally weaker and short-lived.
A waterspout is a tornado-like cyclonic wind event that occurs over open bodies of water, sometimes in small groups called a cluster or waterspout family. Unlike tornadoes on land which often become visible due to the dust and debris inside them, a waterspout is made up of swirling water droplets. Many people think that a waterspout is nothing more than a tornado on the water. This is not entirely true, however, as some waterspouts can develop under relatively good weather as opposed to the stormy conditions that normally produce tornadoes. For this reason, waterspouts are classified in one of two ways: tornadic or fair weather.
A tornadic waterspout forms from the same type of conditions that produce tornadoes, usually very heavy thunderstorms that can also produce very heavy rain, rough seas, high winds, and hail. Such a waterspout can form on water or on land. A tornado that forms on land and travels over water becomes a waterspout. It is no different than a normal tornado, except that it exists over water. It is also possible for a tornado to move across the water, becoming a waterspout, and then return to shore as a tornado.
Sometimes a waterspout forms under relatively calm conditions and is called a clear weather waterspout. This term can be somewhat misleading, however, as this type of waterspout usually forms under a low-lying cumulus cloud bank. Calling these types of waterspouts fair-weather waterspouts is a reference to the fact that they can form when storms are not present, and although they usually occur under a cloud bank, the weather may be very calm and also quite sunny. It is rare for such a waterspout to make it to land, and if it does, it usually dissipates very quickly.
The two types of waterspouts differ in several ways in addition to the conditions under which they form. Tornadic waterspouts can be dangerous and destructive and can have winds as strong as a tornado. Fair weather waterspouts, while potentially dangerous if they contact small vessels directly, are generally much weaker than tornadic waterspouts and tend to be more short-lived. Tornadic waterspouts begin in the cloud layer and extend downward, but clear-weather waterspouts begin at the water level and extend upward. Fair-weather tornadoes, which generally form only over large enough bodies of water, occur more often than the tornadic variety, which can form anywhere a tornado is possible, although neither type of tornado is particularly common.
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