Waterspouts

A waterspout is an intense columnar vortex (usually appearing as a funnel-shaped cloud) that occurs over a body of water and is connected to a cumuliform cloud. In the common form, it is a non-supercell tornado over water. While it is often weaker than most of its land counterparts, stronger versions spawned by mesocyclones do occur. Waterspouts do not suck up water; the water seen in the main funnel cloud is actually water droplets formed by condensation

 A waterspout near Florida. Note the two flares with smoke trails for indicating wind direction and general speed near the bottom of the photograph.

Waterspouts seen from the beach at Kijkduin near The Hague, the Netherlands on August 27, 2006.

A pair of waterspouts off the Bahamas

A family of four waterspouts seen on the Great Lakes (Lake Huron) on September 9, 1999.

Four waterspouts seen in the Florida Keys on June 5, 2009.

Waterspouts seen from the northern coast of Buenos Aires, Argentina on March 3, 2008.