Waterspout spotted in Batemans Bay, New South Wales. [Reuters]
It was a weekend of wild weather across New South Wales,
Australia. There were more than 24,000 lightning strikes
recorded by the Bureau of Meteorology during the weekend.
Rainfall totals of up to 160mm in 24 hours were recorded in some
areas and gusts of 100kph were reported. So perhaps it should
have come as no surprise that a giant waterspout was spotted in
Batemans Bay, some 225km south of Sydney. It persisted for some
time, travelling slowly northwards before dissipating near
Maloneys Beach. Here are some facts about waterspouts: 1.
Waterspouts are similar to tornadoes insofar as they are intense
vortices attached to cumulus or cumulonimbus clouds but they
remain over water. 2. The water seen in the funnel has not been
‘sucked up’ from the surface. Rather, it is water that forms
from cooled, condensed water droplets. 3. Waterspouts occur
mainly in the tropics but they can occur anywhere. 4. They
generally persist for 20 minutes. 5. They can t