A couple photos taken by Grand Daughter and Friend Yesterday afternoon. These were taken about a quarter mile or about 5 city blocks south of my place. Two separate storms produced 5 waterspouts. A couple of them reached Level 2 reflectivity on doppler. A waterspout is basically a tornado over water. If it were to move back over land, it would be once again be called a tornado. I'm working at the farm for couple days and missed all the excitement back home. But actually, these waterspouts are quite common here during the Fall season.
Edit Added: Twitpic tweeted by friend Bill Bellis, WFLD WX. Shows classic hook echo and inflow draw. If you're a fisherman, you sure don't want to get caught up in the inflow draw. And, yes, the Coastguard was looking for a missing boater well into the night--last I heard. If this twitpic loads small, you can use tools (the little gear) to increase the size. The storm had moved southeast of us by the time Bill got this image.
