These are considered “unstable conditions” in weather terms. That means the cooler air above is heavy and wants to fall to the ground, while the warmer air from the water surface wants to rise.
The two air masses meet and can cause the air to rotate, becoming a waterspout.
They form 5,000 feet in the air and higher.
Last week, 16 confirmed water spouts were spotted over the Great Lakes region in one day, according to reporting from MLive.
Ten were spotted on Lake Ontario and the other six were over Lake Michigan. The International Centre for Waterspout Research [ICWR] in Toronto tracks these pesky water tornados.
They called it a waterspout outbreak.
ICWR officials said the Great Lakes sees an average of 459 waterspouts in a year according to their sightings. But they suspect that could be three to seven times higher.
Waterspout sights are rising, but not necessarily due to climate change, according to ICWR. They are easier to report today with social media plus people have easier access to forecasts.
There can be look-alikes, such as optical illusions where light is refracted off rain showers and clouds over the horizon.
"Gustnadoes" are shallow surface-based vortices that form along the leading edge of a gust front, produced by a severe thunderstorm.
But there are no funnels with gustnadoes and no clouds. All waterspouts form with clouds.
Waterspouts are dangerous and should be taken seriously. In August, a waterspout was a factor in the sinking of a yacht near Sicily. More than a dozen people died.
The National Weather service advises folks boating or living on the coast of the Great Lakes to quickly seek harbor or find shelter out of the path of a waterspout.
