waterspout; South Atlantic Ocean (photo by E.A.W.G.S. Egalla)
waterspout (photo by I.C. Oke)
Windspouts above an expanse of water are called waterspouts. They can be identified from a
downward pointing trunk or funnel under a cumulus or cumulonimbus cloud. Water is often
sucked up around the foot of the trunk, so a sort of cylinder of water droplets is visible above
the surface of the sea.
