Spout chasing in Florida?

[ChristofferB]

Since there is no difference in beauty between the water spouts that seem to occur on a regular basis in Florida and the tornadoes of the Midwest later in the summer I am curious to hear if there are any chasers that actively go and chase water spouts in Florida? I recall seeing some statistics of there being just as many "spout days" as "tornado days" in the Midwest but I could confuse that with lightning activity.

I would imagine chasing water spouts being quite difficult though since you pretty much have to chase from land and that the sea view is mostly obscured by beach front properties. Storm chasers, however, don't seem to be put off too much by these types of difficulties so do any of you chase water spouts in Florida? How do you do it, in that case?

 

[Skip Talbot]

There may be more waterspouts than supercellular tornadoes over the plains. They are very common actually. The trick is getting a decent view of them from the land. Spotting a distant funnel isn't too hard, but getting "Campo spout" to land at the beach at your feet is like winning the lottery.

I spot spouts on Lake Michigan, which is not the Florida coast, but the physics are the same for how and why the spouts form. You're basically looking for a large difference in temperature between water surface and the lower levels of the atmosphere. Having a lot of low level instability (3km CAPE plots are great) and a vorticity enhancing land breeze helps a lot too.

You don't really chase waterspouts, you spot them. The logistics of spout spotting dictate that you find a few good beaches, and just move between them depending on which have views of updraft bases. It's not really feasible to try and keep up with the tiny storms or towering cumulus in your car, and you won't be able to maintain a view while doing so. So find a beach where there are cells within view, and watch them from that location until you can't see their bases anymore. Then move to another beach. You pretty much have to find a beach of marina. There are just too many obstructions trying to drive up and down the coast and spot at any given location like you would when supercell chasing the plains. So in that sense, it's the exact opposite of plains supercell chasing. You don't stay out in the country, while constantly moving. You often head to the center of town where the beach/marina is and then park it and wait.

Spout spotting is not difficult when you have the right conditions. It's far more relaxed than supercell chasing and much safer. Spout spotting is a relaxing trip to the beach, with pretty skies, and the weather is rarely hazardous. On a good day, you can see several from one location. Just show up at a beach with a telephoto lens and start spotting spouts (try doing that with supercellular tornadoes). While spouts can be very beautiful with Campo-esque condensation funnels, your views will also be quite different than supercell chasing. You won't have any of the parent storm structure, massive precipitation or hail cores, wall clouds, and the spouts will generally be much smaller than supercellular tornadoes. Like chasing, however, busts are often likely, and you may spend several days at the beach and see nothing but pretty clouds.

I enjoy spout spotting a lot. It's a lot more relaxed than chasing, and a fun outing with a few friends. It's completely different than chasing though. Here's the chase log from my first spout chase, and I think it describes a typical spout chase fairly well:
http://skip.cc/chase/110924/

 

[ChristofferB]

That was really interesting to read about! I can imagine spout chasing in the Florida Keys wouldn't be too bad either, sipping on a cold drink while watching through a telescope. I guess actively chasing them by motorboat would be a really expensive way of chasing but it would be fun. I'll just put that on my "To do when I become a millionaire"-list Would be interesting to hear if anyone has done something like that.

 

[Stephen Levine]

I have seen videos of people who got on their boats to chase, in fact one (rather foolishly) rode right through one not that long ago, and amazingly did not capsize. Needless to say there was lots of hollering on that video.

 

[ChristofferB]

This one I guess?: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6lgvU0Ldvc

It seems like Spout Chasing in Florida would be quite interesting. I mean, you have a perfect view with no obstruction, beautiful surroundings, you are not limited by road networks and the funnels are quite beautiful while not being very dangerous. Gas costs would be an obvious negative, lightning risks as well I assume and of course if the winds flip your boat over you are in BIG trouble.

Found these guys that seem to do it on regular basis: http://waterspoutvideo.com/

 

[Stephen Levine]

This one I guess?: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6lgvU0Ldvc

It seems like Spout Chasing in Florida would be quite interesting. I mean, you have a perfect view with no obstruction, beautiful surroundings, you are not limited by road networks and the funnels are quite beautiful while not being very dangerous. Gas costs would be an obvious negative, lightning risks as well I assume and of course if the winds flip your boat over you are in BIG trouble.

Found these guys that seem to do it on regular basis: http://waterspoutvideo.com/

Thank you for the links, ChristofferB. The Video is excellent though he didn't ride directly into the spout (wise choice) and I love the scenery!! Especially looking up overhead into the circulation. The web site looks like it's not been updated in quite awhile.

 

[Stephen Levine]

Here's another video of a closeup dance with waterspout by boat. I think it's funny when at the end they actually see the funnel above the water disturbance and freak out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hN7ug1zoWWE

 

[Stephen Levine]

One more awesome video, this one of a very strong waterspout that actually comes ashore. Almost hypnotic to watch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWjqd4aMnYw