Snowshower driven October waterspout in NORTH DAKOTA?

[Bill Doms]

Interesting series of conditions on the Missouri River out near BIS last Friday as the cold front spawned some convective snow showers passing over the warmer water.

Nice analysis HERE

Dan R - was it you who caught the Lake Erie 'spout a few years ago during a convective LES event?

 

[Dan Robinson]

Very nice. Something new to look out for over the winter months.

The Lake Ontario event was captured in December of '98 by Jack Kertzie - his photos are here:

http://www.ontarioweather.com/specials/photogallery/gallery.asp?Photos=Jack+Kertzie

 

[Greg Stumpf]

I too captured a tornado over water during a snow event in Oswego, NY in the winter of 1983. Enhanced pictures here:

http://members.cox.net/gstumpf/snow tornado 1.jpg
http://members.cox.net/gstumpf/snow tornado 2.jpg

The Lake Ontario event was captured in December of '98 by Jack Kertzie - his photos are here:

http://www.ontarioweather.com/specials/photogallery/gallery.asp?Photos=Jack+Kertzie

These pictures look more like steam devils.

 

[John Vandehei]

When I worked at WKOW in Madison, Wisconsin back in the 1990's, I took a phone call from a viewer who reported a waterspout over Lake Monona during a cold weather event. If I remember correctly, it was cold (even for mid-Winter) and there was a localized snow event occurring over and near the east side of the lake. Now, the lake is only a couple of miles across, so usually it's much too small to generate lake effect snow. This localized snowfall was only affecting a small neighborhood (it wasn't snowing anywhere else in or near Madison at the time). I supposed, if the temperature difference between the air and water is high enough, and a few other local conditions are just right, waterspouts over small lakes may occur more often than one would think. Since most people don't head to the lake when it's cold, such events may go unnoticed, especially if they are very short lived events.