Fisherman captures dramatic video of twin waterspouts spinning off Australian island chain
Many believe a waterspout is simply a tornado over water, but this is only partially true. Depending on their formation, NOAA says waterspouts come in two types: tornadic and fair weather.
Watch: Video shows twin waterspouts spinning near Australia's Whitsunday Islands
An Australian fisherman was able to capture a stunning video of twin waterspouts spinning near the Whitsunday Islands in Queensland on April 12.
QUEENSLAND, Australia – An unusual sight dazzled a fisherman in Australia when he captured a spectacular video of twin waterspouts spinning over the water off the Whitsunday Islands in Queensland last week.
Murray Story recorded the video on April 12, which shows the two waterspouts rotating close to one another near the shore of a nearby island.
Twin waterspouts are seen in this image taken near the Whitsunday Islands in Queensland, Australia, on April 12, 2023.
(Murray Story via Storyful)
Story said he captured the video early in the morning and was able to get within just over 1,000 feet of the waterspouts when he stopped and started snapping photos of the natural phenomenon.
"We could literally see the spout picking up the water and swirling it up into the very low cloud," he told Storyful.
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What is a waterspout?
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A waterspout is a "funnel which contains an intense vortex, sometimes destructive, of small horizontal extent and which occurs over a body of water," according to Dr. Joseph Golden, a distinguished waterspout authority at NOAA.
Many believe a waterspout is simply a tornado over water, but this is only partially true. Depending on their formation, NOAA says waterspouts come in two types: tornadic and fair weather.
HOW DOES A TORNADO OUTBREAK HAPPEN?
A tornadic waterspout typically begins as a true tornado spawned by a thunderstorm over land, which then moves out over the water and becomes a waterspout.
The more common type, a fair-weather waterspout, develops over open water. Fair-weather waterspouts form at the water's surface and rise upward in association with warm water and high humidity in the lower portion of the atmosphere. This type of waterspout is generally small, brief and less dangerous than a tornadic waterspout.