Today Was The 1st Time I've Actually Witnessed A Waterspout

[abajan]

While enjoying a wonderful afternoon at a south coast beach with my goddaughter and her family, a waterspout formed before our very eyes. It probably took about 20 minutes to go from a hardly noticeable bulge at the base of a fairly insignificant cumulonimbus to a full blown waterspout.

It was sooo cool! Practically everyone at the beach stopped whatever they doing to stare at it. A few were lucky enough to have their cameras on hand to take some shots of it.

All I can say is "Wow, I've finally been able to actually see one of those rare and beautiful weather phenomena that I've heard so much about and seen only on TV!"

(This waterspout is mentioned in the Barbados weather link: http://weather.noaa.gov/weather/current/TBPB.html)

[NoceoTotus]

Beautiful yet dangerous... On land it is called a Tornado...

They really are neat to watch, it is just unfortunate that a couple have come onshore and done damage in the past.

[HurricaneQueen]

Yes, they are beautiful to watch but scary when they are heading directly towards you! Only had that happen once but it was enough to last a lifetime.

[AL Chili Pepper]

I'd never seen a 'spout until 2 years ago. Since then, I've seen three. One of them was a real beauty, and actually made it on to ground before breaking up.

[TexasStooge]

Yes, they are beautiful to watch but scary when they are heading directly towards you! Only had that happen once but it was enough to last a lifetime.

Very true.

[tropicana]

http://www.cbcbarbados.bb/

Thats the link to that story. Musta been cool to watch from the beach.
Thanks abajan for the news.

-justin-

[Patrick99]

Really? I bet they happen down there more often than people realize...sometimes they are pretty skinny and difficult to spot. They don't always occur under the strongest thunderstorms, either - I've seen them plenty of times under weak little morning showers just off the coast.

[bvigal]

Good morning "A Bajan" (lol), thanks for posting this. (I missed it yesterday.) Wow, wow, in your waters to have calm enough wind and seas for a spout, that must be rare!! Glad you got to see it!

BTW, is it raining there this morning? Wondering what that wave is doing as it moves toward you, sat looks like tstorms in the area. Wow, look at that heat index you've got - 96.8 at 9am - ugh!!

[msbee]

I've seen a few water spouts from time to time over the years.
I think they actually are more numerous than we think.
One time a few years ago we were out on our boat and we saw one. It was close enough to us that we saw it come down out of the clouds, touch the sea, and we could see it pulling the water up from the sea in a swirl. It was awesome to watch.. Everyone was fascinated except for my husband who started racing the boat to get away from it.
Thankfully, it went in the other direction and did not come our way.

[abajan]

...BTW, is it raining there this morning? Wondering what that wave is doing as it moves toward you, sat looks like tstorms in the area. Wow, look at that heat index you've got - 96.8 at 9am - ugh!!

It's been pretty cloudy for most of the morning and we just had a thunderstorm roll through. If I understand the latest TWD correctly, we can expect more of the same for the next few days.

As for the heat, somehow it doesn't seem quite so bad today but earlier in the week it was awfully hot!

...Everyone was fascinated except for my husband who started racing the boat to get away from it...

That paints a hilariously funny picture in my mind!