This is becoming the summer of waterspouts and funnel clouds.
A waterspout formed on the outer edge of a large severe storm over Tampa Bay/Pinellas County Tuesday night.
It lasted long enough to show up on Klystron 9 Radar, which, according to Bay News 9 Meteorologist Brian McClure, is rare for waterspouts since they tend to be short-lived.
“The waterspout was never near land, but was very visible from the Gandy Bridge/South Tampa area,” McClure said.
The first two views show the high-resolution of Klystron 9 as it actually does show the waterspout as an “appendage” on the eastern side of the storm just after 7 p.m
The next “velocity” image from the same time shows rotation in that area. Notice the circled area with the green/red areas side-by-side.
The green/red areas side-by-side indicates winds moving in opposite directions beside each other (rotating winds).
“This is what we sometimes refer to as a mesocyclone signature. If this would have occurred over land it would have been a tornado,” said McClure.