This past weekend, when Cleveland experienced some of the first chills of the autumn season, Lake Erie responded with a large amount of waterspouts. The tornado-like events captured the attention of onlookers on Saturday.
We caught up with David Marfalek, a lead forecaster with the National Weather Service’s Cleveland forecast office, to hear more about Lake Erie waterspouts — and what they mean when it comes to the local weather.
How does a waterspout happen?
Marfalek explains that waterspouts can occur more often in the fall when cold air moves in.
“You need warmer water temperatures and then a colder air mass coming in on top of that,” Marfalek says. “That kind of sets the stage for it.”
Are they dangerous?
While a waterspouts is essentially a type of tornado that takes place over water, it's not usually as destructive as supercell tornados on land. However, mariners need to keep an eye on them, particularly when there are multiple waterspouts occurring, Marfalek says.
“Typically, if they do get toward the land areas, they’ll probably dissipate. The wind speeds are generally going to be less than what we consider to be our weakest tornadoes,” Marfalek says.
How long do they last?
Anywhere between five to 10 minutes, on average.
“There are some that can go a little longer, and some that just remain like funnels and don’t actually make it all the way down to the water,” Marfalek says.
How many happened this past weekend in Cleveland?
The International Centre for Waterspout Research counted 181, based on sightings; the organization said that one observer saw 72 alone.
The NWS also took note of a large amount of waterspouts this weekend, but Marfalek says he couldn’t put a number to it. “It’s hard to tell. Anybody could have a number. The closest we can get is ‘dozens,’ because they’re pretty short-lived,” Marfalek says. “There was definitely a high amount of them."
Why did so many happen?
In short: because it’s fall. A sharp weather change precipitated the event, where temperatures dipped into the 40s.
“It was one of the chillier air masses that we’ve had, probably the coolest of the fall season so far,” Marfalek says. “The lake water temperatures were still pretty warm; at the surface, they were still in the upper ‘60s. So when you get that contrast and the airmass, a few other ingredients have to come into place — but again, that sets the stage, and we were expecting those for that Saturday timeframe.”
