Video shows waterspout form over Lake Erie
(FOX 2) - It's not just their water levels that are reaching extreme - the one of the Great Lakes also featured some inclement weather on Wednesday.
In a video posted on the National Weather Service in Cleveland, OH, a user-submitted 10-second video shows a waterspout off the coast of Lake Erie, near Geneva-on-the-lake. Despite the amount of wind necessary to create a waterspout, the video's sound carries a relative calm tone.
As of 4 p.m. on Wednesday, the video had amassed 35,000 views.
Waterspouts are often described as a cloud-filled wind rotating over water, kind of like a tornado.
Despite the body of water beneath it, most of the moisture inside the vortex doesn't come from the lake. Instead, the waterspout actually comes down from the clouds above it, contrary to its name. Instead, what fills the tube-like structure is condensation from the clouds descending with the wind.
There are two types of waterspouts: tornadic waterspouts and fair-weather waterspouts. The former is the result of typical weather patterns that cause tornadoes, which aren't very common. A fair-weather waterspout, a much more common sight is the result of clouds descending onto the water, most likely what is happening above.
Because they are not fast-moving and don't shift around like tornadoes do, they are rarely dangerous and typically associated with the formation of a storm-system, instead of a storm itself.