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Weather: how to explain the phenomenon of waterspouts?
Waterspouts are huge columns of swirling water and wind that form on the water. One reportedly caused a yacht to sink, leaving one dead and six missing, on Monday, August 19.
(France 2)
Waterspouts are huge columns of swirling water and wind that form on the water. One reportedly caused a yacht to sink, leaving one dead and six missing, on Monday, August 19.
In the open sea, on lakes or rivers, waterspouts, huge columns of water and swirling wind, form in just a few minutes. On Monday morning, August 19, this phenomenon reportedly caused the sinking of a yacht off the coast of Sicily (Italy). The toll is heavy with one dead and six missing. “All hell broke loose. Everything happened, first the wind, then the water”explains Giovanni Lococco, a fisherman who experienced the storm up close.
Waterspouts form over a warm sea, with cold air aloft. If surface winds converge, they can rise up, carried by a current of warm air, and form a whirlpool of water and wind. Most of the time, this phenomenon is harmless and dissipates upon contact with the coast. When waterspouts form in the heart of thunderstorms, they are more violent and can continue their path over land in the form of a tornado.
