Have You Ever Seen A Waterspout On Our Great Lakes?

Unique waterspouts can be spotted on our Great Lakes this time of year.

As you gear up for pumpkin spice coffees and apples straight from the tree, look out on the lakes because you might just catch a glimpse of a waterspout. They are somewhat out of the ordinary, but occur more often than you may think.

Waterspouts form when a “convergence zone” moves over a Great Lake at the same time cooler air aloft is moving in. That is why you can find these waterspouts in the early fall. Mlive reported that, waterspouts are dangerous to boats on the water. The swirling winds could gust up to 70 mph in the waterspout. That is a strong enough wind to flip over a boat.

Dr. Joseph Golden, a distinguished waterspout authority with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), defined the waterspout for weather.gov as...

a funnel which contains an intense vortex, sometimes destructive, of small horizontal extent and which occurs over a body of water.

The cold air aloft moves over the relatively warm water. The warm air near the surface is light and rises higher in the atmosphere. The cold air aloft does the opposite and sinks toward the ground. At the same time, a cold front brings with it a wind shift usually from southwest to northwest. Along that line where the air swings in direction to the northwest, spinning of the air occurs.

If you are still boating on the Great Lakes, you should listen for weather advisories to keep yourself safe on the water.

Here is a video of large Waterspout