Boater catches ‘once in a lifetime’ view of simultaneous waterspouts off Louisiana coast

A boater was stopped in his tracks as he filmed several waterspouts swirling at once in the Gulf of Mexico.

Chad Gaspard was only able to capture six of the watery vortexes, but he said there were as many as nine dancing off the coast of Louisiana on Thursday after a line of heavy storms rolled through.

“Once in a lifetime will you see something like this if you’re lucky,” Gaspard captioned the video posted to Facebook. “There were nine in total (three of which were off screen).”

A photographer also captured the cluster of waterspouts off the coast of Biloxi, Mississippi, twisting in a line over the warm Gulf water. The photo was shared on social media by local news outlets and captured the attention of many Gulf Coast residents. It was an awesome sight to some, and to others, ominous.

“Y’all I think this is how sharknado started! 2020 needs to stop,” one user commented.

“Quite beautiful,” wrote another. “But I’m glad they’re in Miss.!”

“Just Mother Nature re-filling her Rain Clouds. That’s all,” another said, referring to their straw-like appearance.

“If I saw this in person I would 100% think the world is ending,” one commenter added.

Many others managed to capture photos and video of the vortexes and posted them online.

Two types of waterspouts

Waterspouts are dangerous, experts warn, to boaters, swimmers, pilots, and in some cases, anybody with property by the beach. Many think of them as “tornadoes” that form over open water, but weather experts say that’s only partly true.

There are two types of waterspouts, fair-weather and tornadic, according to the NOAA.

Tornadic spouts typically arrive during thunderstorms, forming under the same conditions as tornadoes, and are “often accompanied by high winds and seas, large hail, and frequent dangerous lightning.” They can be very destructive, according to the NOAA, able to move from water to land, and vice versa — they are, for all practical purposes, tornadoes, and should be treated with the same respect.

Fair-weather waterspouts occur much more frequently but are considered less of a danger. They are fairly stationary, thanks to the light winds that form them. And if they do come ashore, they tend to dissipate quickly.

While tornadic spouts form in the clouds and touch down on the water’s surface, fair-weathers develop on the surface and “climb skyward in association with warm water temperatures and high humidity,” according to the National Weather Service.

“The best way to avoid a waterspout is to move at a 90-degree angle to its apparent movement,” the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration advises. “Never move closer to investigate a waterspout. Some can be just as dangerous as tornadoes.”

For waterspouts to form, both types need a lot of humidity and water warmer than the air around it, according to National Geographic.

Waterspouts are about 165 feet in diameter, on average, and have short lifespans, with most lasting just five to 10 minutes — though some of the biggest can reach up to 330 feet in diameter and last up to an hour, according to the publication.

The parade of waterspouts in the Gulf comes as the region braces for two tropical storm systems that are expected to strengthen in the coming days. Should they develop into hurricanes, it would be the first time two systems take aim at the region at the same time, McClatchy News reported.