A waterspout is an intense columnar vortex that occurs over a body of water. Some are connected to a cumulus congestus cloud, some to a cumuliform cloud and some to a cumulonimbus cloud. In the common form, a waterspout is a non-supercell tornado over water having a five-part life cycle: formation of a dark spot on the water surface; spiral pattern on the water surface; formation of a spray ring; development of a visible condensation funnel; and ultimately, decay.
A waterspout near Florida in 1969. Two flares with smoke trails (near base of photograph) have been discharged to indicate wind direction and general speed.
A family of four waterspouts seen on Lake Huron, 9 September 1999
Four waterspouts seen in the Florida Keys, 5 June 2009
Waterspout in the Tasman Sea, 29 January 2009
In fluid dynamics, a vortex is a region in a fluid in which the flow revolves around an axis line, which may be straight or curved. Vortices form in stirred fluids, and may be observed in smoke rings, whirlpools in the wake of a boat, and the winds surrounding a tropical cyclone, tornado or dust devil.
Vortex created by the passage of an aircraft wing, revealed by colored smoke
Vortices formed by milk when poured into a cup of coffee
A Kármán vortex street is demonstrated in this photo, as winds from the west blow onto clouds that have formed over the mountains in the desert. This phenomenon observed from ground level is extremely rare, as most cloud-related Kármán vortex street activity is viewed from space
The Crow instability of a jet aeroplane's contrail visually demonstrates the vortex created in the atmosphere (gas fluid medium) by the passage of the aircraft.
