Waterspout hits people on the beach

[Dann Cianca]

Can you clarify this sentence? Are you saying that miso vortices don't move? I'm not saying this in jest

Sorry, I should have been more clear. I mentioned the movement being the only indication of a possibly mesocyclonic tornado as more often than not, mesocyclonic tornadoes will move with storm motion, or at least with some tendency from the motion and eventual occlusion of the storm-scale circulation.

In many cases, (or at least it has been my experience in "landspout alley" here near Denver, Colorado) non-supercell tornadoes form on stationary convergence boundaries and may meander a bit, but don't have a definitive motion unless the line moves or the outflow pushes the circulation away from the updraft.

Aside from the fact that the violently rotating column of air seems to move directly toward the shore, I don't see any other reason to define the violently rotating column of air mesocyclonic. Even the movement doesn't really prove anything. It was just an observation.

I am interested in hearing the opinions of those who believe the violently rotating column of air to be of mesocyclonic origin. I'll admit that I could be missing something.

 

[rdale]

So I'm curious why you're certain that the circulation is tornadic.

I'm not certain - that's why I said "think." That (and the parts of the storm that I can see) look more like a true thunderstorm than some extra-strong cumulus.

 

[Greg Stumpf]

In this case, it appears to be a mesocyclone/supercell tornado. Nothing about the atmospheric vortex changes *at all* when it moves from water to land, thus the name of the vortex should also not change.

Whoops - I meant to type non-mesocyclone/supercell tornado. But the second part of my statement above still stands.

I can't stand reading "the waterspout moved ashore, becoming a tornado", as if the phenomenon magically transformed into something different.

Also, tornadoes don't touch down, don't go back up into the clouds, and don't skip, but that's a whole other pet peeve that I'll leave alone for now.

 

[Karen St John]

Starting to....as someone posted...it's been discussed here already. Yeah...I kinda came off as a prick there. I hate my posting style sometimes.

Sooooooooo has anyone found out what damage was caused, or if there were casualties?

To whomever might have been injured, might not the storm's status as a mesocyclone (or otherwise) might be immaterial?

(Sorry, Jason, your post was the easiest to quote for my segue...)

 

[rdale]

Sooooooooo has anyone found out what damage was caused, or if there were casualties?

10 people died when this happened back in 2007. And it was originally classified as a hurricane by the videographer.

To whomever might have been injured, might not the storm's status as a mesocyclone (or otherwise) might be immaterial?

Correct, that's probably only of value to meteorologists and storm chasers. If only there was a forum for those types of discussions

 

[Karen St John]

10 people died when this happened back in 2007. And it was originally classified as a hurricane by the videographer.

Correct, that's probably only of value to meteorologists and storm chasers. If only there was a forum for those types of discussions

Great answers! The value of meso v. non meso is interesting, of course. But can we let the newbies in on the subtleties, please?

 

[Trey Thee]

Vid quality was rather poor, but interesting none the less

 

[Jason Foster]

To whomever might have been injured, might not the storm's status as a mesocyclone (or otherwise) might be immaterial?

(Sorry, Jason, your post was the easiest to quote for my segue...)

No problem....I still deserve a ripping for the way I worded my post. The point you made was kinda what I was getting to, but I did a horrible job posting.