Waterspout captured off West Bay
Waterspout off the coast of West Bay
Thursday, August 25, 2005
On Friday, Cayman Net News photographer Eugene
Bonthuys captured the rare and awe-inspiring sight of two waterspouts off West
Bay. The display of Mother Nature’s raw power and magnificence soon drew a
small crowd of onlookers. However, the phenomenon disappeared as suddenly as
it had appeared, leaving no trace of its existence, except for a lasting
impression on those who had witnessed it.
Waterspouts are rotating columns of air similar in
appearance to that of the tornado. They develop over warm ocean currents
during unstable conditions or as cold front boundaries pass over the ocean.
These are not dangerous but they can affect boats and
yachts. Because they are over the ocean, they do not pick up debris but water
spray is usually seen at the base.
They can develop over the ocean and move over the land
and then they become tornadoes. It is here where waterspouts can be dangerous
and has caused extensive damage to trees and buildings as well as overturn
caravans in coastal communities. However with so little land mass, that is one
thing we don’t normally have to worry about here in the Cayman Islands. We of
course can save our anxiety for hurricanes and increasingly scary lightning.
Still, having said that weather is extremely
unpredictable, as we all know too well here – perhaps we should never say
never over tornadoes either.
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