Photos: Waterspout Forms Off Clearwater Beach

Clearwater Beach visitors were treated to a display of Florida’s unique weather when a waterspout formed before their eyes Friday morning.

The spout “kicked up a lot of wind and high surf on the beach, but otherwise caused no problems,” the city of Clearwater wrote in an email to media.

The waterspout stuck around just long enough for Patrick Brafford, the city’s water safety supervisor to snap some photos.

This is the second time in the past few weeks a waterspout has been reported off Clearwater Beach. Both incidents resulted in no injuries.

Waterspouts are “pretty common, especially in the summertime,” National Weather Service meteorologist Robert Garcia told Patch in a previous interview. “They’re one of the contributors to our high tornado density.”

Garcia explained that Florida technically has the highest density of tornado activity of any state due in large part to the number of waterspouts that kick up over its waters.

See Also:

• Florida Waterspouts: What You Need to Know
• Video: 3 Children Injured When Waterspout Flips Bounce House

“The good news with waterspouts is they tend to be weak,” Garcia said.

But, that’s not always so, Garcia warned. “They can be a bit of a destructive force.”

With winds in the 30 to 60 mph range, waterspouts are very capable of destruction. In May, a bounce house set up along the beach in Fort Lauderdale was picked up into the air, tumbled and then deposited about 150 feet away. Three children were injured in the incident.

Waterspouts aside, the National Weather Service is warning beachgoers to be mindful of rip currents along the Bay Area’s coastal region as storms continue to pummel the area. There is a high risk rip current formation through Saturday morning.

Photos courtesy of the City of Clearwater/Patrick Brafford