Water spouts -the name given to tornadoes over water - could cause winds averaging between 120 - 200km/h, Mr Duncan said.
"Out at sea they can look a lot more dramatic because they suck up all the water."
Water Spouts are not simply tornadoes over water, they have the same mechanism as a Landspout and do not carry the supporting mesocyclone to call them an actual Tornado.
It's extremely frustrating when people mislead the public with false statements.
Most tornadoes we get in New Zealand are actually Landspouts, to the untrained eye they look like a Tornado but they are much weaker as they carry no upper level support from a mesocyclone.
The statement that waterspouts carry winds in the range of 120-200km/hr is also false depending on the type of waterspout. Water carries significant weight and most waters spouts are less than 63 knots. Reference
However if we are talking about "Tornado's over water" then thats different as they can be much stronger, but there was no indication that the storm carried a mesocyclone so the statement is technically false.
Was the Hobsonville tornado a land-spout?
Good to hear the lead story on the radio live news update was the severe thunderstorm watch for Northland Auckland
Quite a few thundery cells along the North Island west coast shown here.
Overcast here today with high cloud coming off the activity to the west, lack of heating reduces the storm chance here I think
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spwill wrote:Quite a few thundery cells along the North Island west coast shown here.
Overcast here today with high cloud coming off the activity to the west, lack of heating reduces the storm chance here I think
I agree with your observations spwill. Visually the waterpout over Manukau Harbour yesterday, and the Hokitika tornado in March were quite different. The waterspout was tall and slender with not a lot of visual rotation, while the videos of the Hokitika tornado offshore show a short stubbie system with a lot of visual rotation (in fact, I would not use the term waterspout to describe the Hokitika one, that's a proper tornado).
in some of the photos I have seen, there is mud in the air, as the tide was out, i.e it was over the exposed tidal banks
that mud is heavy (wet) and sticky...and yet you can see a brown smudge in the air, i.e lots of mud particulates having being thrown up into the air
there some real strong winds at the surface with that twister
Temp has dropped on the North Shore from a balmy 17 degrees at morning tea time to a chilly 13 degrees. We've had a few heavy showers, not much else so far.
seej wrote:It's extremely frustrating when people mislead the public with false statements.
yes well.. mr duncan has been known to get things mixed up.
You're a bitchy bunch in here at times. Glad I don't visit too often these days. You understand that a reporter might ask you several times what a tornado is right? And what a waterspout is? And quite a few can't even get their heads around the difference between a tornado, a funnel cloud and a waterspout. And then you expect me to add a whole other technical level of detail like the above? Which 99% of reporters will never use in their story. When at the end of the day it doesnt really matter at all - the public just need to know that funnel clouds and similar looking ones coming down are dangerous and somethign to avoid. If I even came close to using the terms you used above I would be out of a job in seconds as a poor communicator.
Phil
discovered there was a 3rd water spout...just south of me..someone saw it as they drove past a gap in the hills
I was watching the base of that cloud, and there was rotation and strong updrafts...but a hill was blocking my view of the funnel...but I had my suspicions there was one there
Last edited by Manukau heads obs on Wed 22/05/2013 18:55, edited 1 time in total.
You're a bitchy bunch in here at times. Glad I don't visit too often these days. You understand that a reporter might ask you several times what a tornado is right? And what a waterspout is? And quite a few can't even get their heads around the difference between a tornado, a funnel cloud and a waterspout. And then you expect me to add a whole other technical level of detail like the above? Which 99% of reporters will never use in their story. When at the end of the day it doesnt really matter at all - the public just need to know that funnel clouds and similar looking ones coming down are dangerous and somethign to avoid. If I even came close to using the terms you used above I would be out of a job in seconds as a poor communicator.
Phil
Very fair comment, most know the media have no idea when it comes to weather terminology.
But justifying not visiting because you think we all are a "bitchy bunch" only makes me think you cant handle criticism. Something you will probably only receive more of as Weather Watch grows.
Thanks Razor & Stormchaser - know what you're saying and I handle criticism fairly well for the most part, I get it on a daily basis so you build a thick skin - funny how living out your passion means you have to be fiercely disliked by some. I will always defend myself, especially when someone is suggesting I'm purposely misleading the media or have dishonest intentions. Anyone who knows me knows I'm an open book. Also, whenever my name is mentioned in this forum it's almost always being credited to something negative or nasty...after all these years I thought that might have softened in here, it has everywhere else. Totally hear you on the growth of critical comments as we grow, although we've found the general public are really enjoying the product we provide.
To Manukau heads - wow, 200mm is crazy after so long with so little!
