Water Spouts - Tornadoes over water - WOW!!!

tallyho8 · Jul 30, 2017

In southeast Louisiana tornadoes are pretty rare so I wasn't prepared to see this as I traveled on a long bridge across Lake Pontchartrain. A funnel cloud started dropping down out of the dark clouds ahead. Then another one and then another one. Then they started touching down in the waters ahead.

There aren't too many places to turn around on this bridge as the next exit was 8 miles away. We continued forward at 80 MPH to get to the exit before they did. Two of them kept getting larger and larger and were moving quite slowly off to the side. By the time we got to the exit they were no longer heading for us and we were able to stop and take some photos.

We watched the large one for over 30 minutes till we got out of sight of it and it was still growing at last sight. I didn't know that they lasted so long but I was sure glad that they were slow movers.

teg · Jul 30, 2017

That's still on my bucket list... to see a tornado or water spout. Pretty cool...

Redlands Okie · Jul 30, 2017

Wow. Neat photos and good that you were able to see them from a ways out and no houses

TractorGuy · Jul 30, 2017

teg said:
That's still on my bucket list... to see a tornado or water spout. Pretty cool...

Careful what you wish for.

CalG · Jul 30, 2017

Nice! Glad you are safe!

I've been through too many twisters, and only seen water spouts over salt water.

WM75Guy · Jul 30, 2017

Glad everything turned out OK. Everyone should know what to do in case you get caught up in one. Your options were pretty limited. On April 29, 2017 we had 7 tornadoes touch down around us in a 2 hour window at dark plus 2 more not too far away in the next county. Two of our nurses were at their homes next door to each other and took shelter in the lowest most interior closets of their 2 story homes.

This picture shows where one survived after the F4 tornado destroyed the house. Her sister and brother-in-law survived as well. This picture was taken before anyone cleaned or moved anything. She was under the closet door as indicated. The clean slab is a result of the tornado. Their vehicles were found 300 yards away destroyed. Some of their pictures were found 55 miles away 2 counties north.

Ed of all trades · Jul 31, 2017

repowell said:
Glad everything turned out OK. Everyone should know what to do in case you get caught up in one. Your options were pretty limited. On April 29, 2017 we had 7 tornadoes touch down around us in a 2 hour window at dark plus 2 more not too far away in the next county. Two of our nurses were at their homes next door to each other and took shelter in the lowest most interior closets of their 2 story homes.

This picture shows where one survived after the F4 tornado destroyed the house. Her sister and brother-in-law survived as well. This picture was taken before anyone cleaned or moved anything. She was under the closet door as indicated. The clean slab is a result of the tornado. Their vehicles were found 300 yards away destroyed. Some of their pictures were found 55 miles away 2 counties north.

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Randy, WOW. Someone was looking after her. Ed

EddieWalker · Jul 31, 2017

Great pictures Tallyho. Not something I ever want to see myself, but really enjoy it when others do.

dmccarty · Jul 31, 2017

It seems like yesterday, but decades ago I was in the FLA Keys on a sailboat, and we saw not one, not two, but three water spouts at the same time. Very pretty and the sound was eerie. It was an awesome sight, but at first it was a bit worrisome until we could tell the water spouts were moving away from us. The boat's maximum speed was around 7 knots so it would have been problematic just moving out of the path of one of them, much less three. Furthermore, we were constrained in which course we could go since there was land to our east and west so we could only go north or south.

We we happy to see that water spouts move off to the NNW and they did bring in some very cool air.

Tom Colvin was a boat designer for many decades who like to build steel hull boats with junk rigs. He died just a few years ago. He and his wife were on the boat he had built in the Bahamas when their boat was hit but a water spout. He said you could here the sound, it was at night, and then the boat started moving in circles around its anchor. :shocked: I can't remember exactly but I don't think they took any severe damage. They had to fix things but it seems like they sailed the boat back home to FLA. The anchor rode was all twisted up if I remember right.

Later,
Dan

PJSprog · Jul 31, 2017

I've been in 2 tornadoes, and entirely too close to a couple others. They are not nearly as fun as they look from a distance. They are a truly awesome force.

When I worked for the organ company, we got a call from a small Lutheran church in Chapman KS asking us to come get their pipe organ, as their church had been destroyed by a tornado (along with most of the town), and they didn't want it sitting there exposed to the elements. After they rebuilt and the organ was reinstalled, I went there to make some adjustments to the new digital equipment. I spoke with the pastor, who told me she had been in the house next to the church (where she lives) when it hit. It picked up the house off the foundation and tossed it against the side of the church. She was in the basement, holding onto the stair railing for dear life. The one thing I'll never forget is the look on her face when she said, "It changes you." Distant is the only way I can describe the look, and that's not completely accurate.