Looking out across the ocean, there’s something strange on the horizon. A tunnel of swirling air and mist stretching up into the sky like a tornado.
It might sound like something from an adventure movie but this is very real. It’s known as a waterspout.
“A waterspout is a narrow column of rotating air below a thunderstorm that occurs over water,” according to a statement from Dr Peter Inness, a meteorologist at the University of Reading. “They are part of the same weather “family” as tornadoes,” he says.
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There are two types of waterspouts: fair weather and tornadic.
When tornados form over water, or move from the land over the sea, they’re known as a tornadic waterspout.
These rotating funnels of mist form when cold air meets warm water. They “form beneath thunderstorm clouds, so need the same ingredients as a thunderstorm,” adds Innes. “Heat and humidity in the lower atmosphere are the two main requirements.” Meanwhile, winds coming in from different directions cause the air to twirl, forming the ‘spout’.
Fair weather waterspouts, however, don’t need stormy conditions. They tend to arise in calm conditions with light winds and form the other way around. “While tornadic waterspouts develop downward in a thunderstorm, a fair weather waterspout develops on the surface of the water and works its way upward,” says NOAA’s National Ocean Service on its website.
They tend to be less powerful and die out more quickly than their tornadic counterparts.
Although not all waterspouts are dangerous, they can have a significant impact. “Like tornadoes, many waterspouts are fairly inconsequential, with a few seconds of strong, gusty winds before they move on or dissipate,” says Innes. “But some can be much stronger.”
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Perhaps the most famous waterspout wasn’t even a waterspout! In 2024, a superyacht in Sicily sank and seven people tragically lost their lives. At the time, people thought the boat had been struck by a waterspout but authorities later said the cause of the sinking was likely a violent wind called a downburst.
If you’re on a boat and you see a waterspout forming, stay away. “The best way to avoid a waterspout is to move at a 90-degree angle to its apparent movement,” writes NOAA’s National Weather Service. “Never move closer to investigate.”
top image: waterspout in the middle of the sea between fishing boats. roni ornax/ Getty Images
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