A waterspout is an intense columnar vortex (usually appearing as a funnel-shaped cloud) that occurs over a body of water. Then with a change in wind direction and wind speed at high altitude, it can turn into a violent rotating column of air, that extends to the waters surface. Fair weather waterspouts develop in calmer weather. They form when cumulus clouds grow rapidly. These waterspouts can be very destructive and long lived due to the nature of the storm it’s associated with. iWitness weather user 'daisymaye3' from Linesville, PA submitted this photo. When a storm cell has an updraft of air in an area of rotation 2-6 miles wide. Such a waterspout can form over water or over land. He wrote, "My grandson on the beach playing while a waterspout … Tornadic waterspouts. To form, waterspouts require warm surface water in addition to the necessary atmospheric conditions discussed above. Waterspouts generally form with clouds that have flat bottoms, and often just as light rain is beginning to fall from the cloud. Many waterspouts form away from thunderstorms and even during relatively fair weather. When they do form, they come from the base of the thunderstorm when the source of rotation extends down to the surface of the water. They can also occur over harbors and lakes in warmer temperatures of the year. Waterspouts are whirling columns of air and water mist. Fortunately, fair weather waterspouts almost always dissipate quickly over land. Waterspouts mostly occur over warm tropical ocean waters, when warm air and cold air meet during a thunderstorm, which creates instability in the atmosphere. Waterspouts are associated with severe thunderstorms and are often accompanied by high winds and seas, large hail, and frequent dangerous lightning. The size of all waterspouts can range from just a few feet, to several hundred feet wide. Many waterspouts have been observed over the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Florida and the Bahamas, and over the Gulf Stream. These clouds are detached, fluffy-looking and cauliflower-shaped. Waterspouts Form on Lakes. Like tornadoes, tornadic waterspouts are produced by severe thunderstorms. They form only over open water, developing at the surface and actually climbing skyward towards the clouds. Research shows that fair weather waterspouts exhibit a five-stage life cycle: These can be vortices that form over land and then move over water, or they can develop from strong thunderstorms over water, typically near the coast. how do waterspouts form ? How Do Waterspouts Form Waterspouts are created over ocean surfaces in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. One way that they form is in the tornadic form In this way, they form similar to how Tornadoes form except over water. 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