A lot of people assume that waterspouts are tornadoes over a body of water. While a tornado can be a waterspout, not all waterspouts are tornadoes. This October, the Great Lakes saw over 30 waterspouts in just a few days. 

How Waterspouts Form

The National Weather Service in Grand Rapids Michigan recently explained how waterspouts form.

The first step is for the winds to converge over the Great Lakes. Lake water can be warmer than the air temperature in the fall, and the water can actually heat the air.

Read More: Watch Video Of Waterspout In Northern Minnesota

Then, the warmer air rises in updrafts, which creates clouds and showers. The air begins to spin inwards and upwards, kicking up a mist that turns into a funnel.

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They can be dangerous to small crafts on the lake. Winds can be higher than 60 mph, but usually, once the waterspout hits shore it quickly dissipates.

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Difference between tornadoes and waterspouts.

Tornadoes form over land, and if they cross into a body of water it could be considered a waterspout. Tornadoes have much higher winds. A weak tornado is an F-0 which is 65-85 MPH.

National Weather Service
National Weather Service
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If a waterspout crosses into land, it's considered a tornado, but without that warm water fueling the airflow, it quickly dies out. An example is in 2012, a waterspout formed just off Duluth's Park Point. It then crossed over to Superior's Barker's Island where it briefly was an EF-0 tornado.

Just earlier this year, waterspouts were spotted on the North Shore near Lutsen, Minnesota.

Waterspouts can be dangerous and shouldn't be taken lightly, but they aren't always tornadoes.

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Gallery Credit: KATELYN LEBOFF

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