Turbulent atmosphere: Waterspout breakout reported over Lake Michigan

August 19, 2012 – SOUTH HAVEN, MI — The National Weather Service is now reporting nine waterspouts from two separate storms were witnessed on Lake Michigan. Waterspouts have been spotted over Lake Michigan today and forecasters say it’s possible more could spawn tonight and Sunday night. The National Weather Service said three of the tornado-like vortices were reported to them shortly before noon on Saturday, by people who were out on a fishing boat in Lake Michigan this morning. The spouts were spotted about 24 miles west of the South Haven lighthouse. The storms that caused them were small, 15-minute “pop-ups,” said William Moreno, a meteorologist in the NWS office in Grand Rapids. Conditions were right this morning for the waterspouts, Moreno said, with a land breeze converging over lake water warmed by the summer heat. The water in that part of the lake, the widest part of Lake Michigan, is about 72 degrees, he said. Winds in spout areas often reach 40 to 60 mph. Boaters or swimmers are advised to seek shelter when they are spotted. Waterspouts are relatively rare, but have been seen already this summer off Holland. Five were seen falling from sky simultaneously in the video below. –Mlive  

                              Five waterspouts filmed on Lake Michigan, August 19,  2012

                             Multiple waterspouts filmed in Foros, (Crimea) Ukraine – August 14, 2012

                             Multiple waterspouts filmed off the coast of Darłowo, Poland – August 10, 2012