Times of the Islands Spring 2020

Here we are, some 124 years later, and we remain
just as fascinated with these meteorological wonders.
Waterspouts happen across the globe, with most occurring
in tropical and sub-tropical locations. It is however,
not out of the question to see waterspouts form over
large lakes as well as in northern latitudes, such as off
the coast of Maine and Massachusetts.
In the Turks & Caicos Islands, spotting waterspouts
has been a bit more common over the last several years. It
isn’t necessarily that they are occurring more frequently,
but that with advances in technology, people can more
readily can capture these events with their cell phones
and transmit photos around the world in seconds.
Are waterspouts the same as tornadoes?
We need to first take a look at how waterspouts form and
how they relate to their more sinister cousins, tornadoes.
Waterspouts form rather infrequently under general thunderstorms
over the open ocean. They also occur under
towering cumulus clouds and even form at times under
fair weather cumulus. Waterspouts that form at the base
of a thunderstorm tend to be stronger than those that
develop under other forms of cumulus clouds.
In order to get waterspouts to form, there needs to
be a clockwise turning of the winds in the atmosphere
starting at the water surface. It is common to have winds
out of the southeast at the surface in the Islands. Two
hundred feet above the water, winds may be from the
south. Four hundred feet above the water, winds could
be from the southwest. It is this turning in the winds as
you ascend into the atmosphere that causes a column of
air to rotate. As this column of air rotates and contracts,
speeds increase in response.
The first indication of a waterspout may be the formation
of a clockwise swirl on the water’s surface. Once
the column of air begins to rotate faster, a spiraling spray
ring may become noticeable as water is lifted off the surface
and becomes airborne around the whirling vortex
itself. As the vortex matures, moisture may condensate,
causing cloud formation within the vortex and giving
NOAA PHOTO LIBRARY
On August 19, 1896 a waterspout developed over Vineyard Sound near Cottage City, Massachusetts. This is believed to be one of the first
photographs of a waterspout.
24 www.timespub.tc