a bit sketchy

[mainemike]

to put it lightly. something a bit out of the ordinary presents itself at 0:30

[mnoble485]

Not being a weatherman or Bill Nye, how does a waterspout compare with a tornado?

[j44ke]

I've been out on the ocean with waterspouts. My impression is that they are more akin to dust devils than tornados in that they (I think) are based on temperature differences. The winds in them are not as high as that in a land-based tornado by any stretch. And the weather than forms them is not the same either. Land-based tornados are formed by much more powerful cyclonic thunderstorms. Waterspouts are just a condensation feature (i.e. they aren't sucking up water but more like swirling vertical water vapor.) At the same time, you don't want to go through them with a sailboat because a 50-60mph circular gust could wreck some rigging. They don't move around much (in my experience) so you can usually avoid them.

[sonny]

i used to watch them in the morning off the florida panhandle
they would be a couple hundred feet tall and bend all around over the water
sometimes i'd see a three at once on the horizon

wouldn't want to tangle with one to say the least.

[54ny77]

where's the flying cows?

[Too Tall]

Zoits!
Nice job getting the rigging down ASAP.

[Saab2000]

I was flying out of Erie, PA a couple years ago and we flew around and through some clouds that looked very unfriendly but were surprisingly smooth. Even so, something was going on over the lake and it was a very unstable atmosphere that day and I saw several waterspouts just a couple miles offshore. I wish I had a camera. Reminds me I MUST get a new phone with video capabilities for such moments. I kept my distance from the waterspouts.

[bikinchris]

Not being a weatherman or Bill Nye, how does a waterspout compare with a tornado?

Waterspouts are very minor tornadoes over water. On land the vast majority of them would probably be rated a F0. Very seldom, they are somewhat stronger. But never the F5 that removes the paving from the roads in Kansas and Oklahoma. But since they don't have anything to break or throw like land tornadoes, we can't be certain how strong they are. Here is some reading on the subject:

About Waterspouts