This has nothing to do with trains, so be forewarned. My family and I were on vacation in the Outer Banks last week and witnessed a series of about 5 or 6 waterspouts form out over the ocean and paralell the shore. They were only a couple hundred yards off shore. We got some great pics of them and thought I’d share for those interested. A scaled down sample of one of the pics is posted below, full size 5 megapixel pics are in the links. Enjoy!
WOW [:0]!! Great pics! [tup] As said above, I wouldn’t be brave to be that close. You’d probably see blurred pics of my feet running as far away as I can.
We were at a campground, so the only shelter we would have had would have been a tent. I don’t think that would have done much, so we just stood around and watched. They stayed a couple hundred yards off shore. I had my son with me, so believe me at the first sign of danger I would have been hightailing it somewhere!
There were a total of about 6 waterspouts that day, within the span of about 30-40 minutes. They’d form to our south, where you can see the finger in the one pic, and move north parallel to the shore and grow larger as they came closer. There was a spot directly in front of us that as soon as they crossed that spot, they just fizzled out, within a matter of seconds - gone. As one was fizzling out, another one would be forming and starting the trek to the north, which is what you see in that one pic.
We actually couldn’t hear them at all that I can remember. The noise of the waves crashing on the beach along with the regular windy conditions drowned out any noise they were making.
