APOD: A Waterspout in Florida (2023 Apr 23)

[APOD Robot]

A Waterspout in Florida

Explanation: What's happening over the water? Pictured here is one of the better images yet recorded of a waterspout, a type of tornado that occurs over water. Waterspouts are spinning columns of rising moist air that typically form over warm water. Waterspouts can be as dangerous as tornadoes and can feature wind speeds over 200 kilometers per hour. Some waterspouts form away from thunderstorms and even during relatively fair weather. Waterspouts may be relatively transparent and initially visible only by an unusual pattern they create on the water. The featured image was taken in 2013 July near Tampa Bay, Florida. The Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida is arguably the most active area in the world for waterspouts, with hundreds forming each year.

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[MarkE]

That is terrifying! ...you know thats been close to the last thing some poor persons seen at one point in history, having had no prior knowledge of water spouts, only to see what appears like a monstrous elephant trunk reach from the sky to the water to gobble you up!

...i feel for them, having had their whole world of understanding destroyed in those last fleeting seconds as they're tossed about by this 'thing'!

...if the Matrix movie franchise was a thing back then you can bet conspiracy theories would've been rife with talk about glitches ...but they had to settle for monsters, which is probably just as interesting

[Michael in Istanbul]

I didn't think you were supposed to drink salt water.

[Roger Venable]

Why do you call this "Astronomy Picture Of the Day"?

[Chris Peterson]

Why do you call this "Astronomy Picture Of the Day"?

Because planetary phenomena are part of astronomy, and the closest planet we have to study is our own. Similar weather exists elsewhere in the Solar System.

[De58te]

Why do you call this "Astronomy Picture Of the Day"?

Well as I see it, yesterday was 'Earth Day'. You were supposed to celebrate being on the Earth yesterday. Apparently the executive in charge of choosing the pictures of the day must have forgotten. Too late. He or she slapped their forehead, "OMG! I forgot Earth Day." So .. better a day late than never .. he or she picked an Earth photo for today.

[johnnydeep]

So, based on the description at the "featured image" link stating that the funnel spiraled down from the clouds, that this is a true "tornado over water" spout rather than a "fair weather water spout" in which the funnel starts at the surface of the water and develops upward.

[orin stepanek]

they showed one on TV yesterday! It actually made land and then dissipated!

[jmaxey46@att.net]

Minor detail. Tampa is on the Gulf of Mexico on the west coast of Florida, while the Atlantic Ocean is off the east coast of Florida.
Cheers. Jeff Maxey

[Chris Peterson]

Minor detail. Tampa is on the Gulf of Mexico on the west coast of Florida, while the Atlantic Ocean is off the east coast of Florida.
Cheers. Jeff Maxey

Of course, if we want to pick the nits even deeper, the caption doesn't really say that this was on the Atlantic Ocean. And in the big scheme of things, the Gulf of Mexico is part of the Atlantic Ocean. ;-)

[hypermetabolic]

A true waterspout is the analogue of a dust devil, but over warm water rather than land. These were often seen over Lake Erie in late summer during clear days. Pictured here is a tornado over water.