According to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), a water tornado is a “whirling column of air and mist.” There are two type of waterspouts: fair weather waterspouts and tornadic waterspouts. The one that hit Cuba last weekend was a “fair weather tornado.”
“Fair weather waterspouts usually form along the dark flat base of a line of developing cumulus clouds,” the NOAA explains on its website. “This type of waterspout is generally not associated with thunderstorms. By the time the funnel is visible, a fair weather waterspout is near maturity.”
While impressive and somewhat mesmerizing, just like regular tornadoes, waterspouts can create serious material damage and injuries when they reach land.
Despite being rare, a report on the event of last Saturday by the Cienfuegos Meteorological Center notes that another waterspout took place in Cienfuegos this year on June 1. 