Fisherman and Island residents alike caught a rare glimpse of a massive waterspout that towered over Lasqueti Island on Thursday morning.
Fisherman
Radke told CTV Vancouver Island 鈥渋t was like God reaching down for some fish,鈥� adding he鈥檇 never seen anything like it.
鈥淭he whole crew didn鈥檛 even really say much,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t lasted for about 10 minutes, maybe a bit longer.鈥�
A waterspout is essentially a tornado over water though it is not quite the same as a land tornado.
A waterspout was caught on camera earlier today around Lasqueti Island. Storms today pose threat to B.C. fire relief
鈥� The Weather Network (@weathernetwork)
Ed Wiebe, Scientific Assistant at the University of Victoria is a He describes them as a columnar vortex usually weaker than what we think of as a tornado, like a big dust devil.
鈥淭hey can be strong and dangerous to encounter at sea,鈥� Wiebe said. 鈥淭hey typically occur under or with big cumulonimbus (rain, storm) clouds and are caused by rapidly rising air stretching upward and spinning faster like figure skater pulling in arms during spin.鈥�
