What Are Waterspouts?

A waterspout is a term given for a tornado over a body of water. So, basically it is a tornado but given a special name because it's over water. Waterspouts over oceans and large lakes tend to be weak tornadoes but can still do damage with average wind speeds between 50 and 100 mph. Although the warm coastal waters off of Florida are an ideal region for waterspouts they can occur over the Great Salt Lake and even the Great Lakes. In fact, two men were reported missing in June of 1993 after a waterspout whirled through the Chicago harbor off of Lake Michigan. One man was picked up and thrown off the pier, while a wind surfer was never found. (1) This shouldn't come as much of a surprise because Chicago is in a geographic area favorable to tornado development. And since a waterspout is a tornado over water, it's bound to happen that a tornado forms over Lake Michigan or moves onto Lake Michigan.

 

(1) Lyons, Walter A. The Handy Weather Answer Book. Visible Ink; 1997.