What’s the difference between a tornado, waterspout, landspout and dust devil?

A waterspout sweeps across Lake Constance off Friedrichshafen, Germany. 

( Dr. Christoph Sommergruber / picture alliance   / Getty Images )

A vast majority of people could correctly identify a tornado if presented with a photo of one, but some funnels mimic tornadoes yet are formed by different processes.  

tornado are bear from supercell thunderstorm contain descend current of relatively cold , dense air , know as downdraft . These downdrafts is help help a develop tornado maintain its rotation while also push it downward toward low altitude .

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The rotation can eventually become so concentrated that a narrow column of violently rotating air develops, creating what’s known as a funnel cloud. If the funnel cloud stretches far enough down that it reaches the ground, it becomes a tornado.

Waterspouts: Tornadoes over water

If you’ve heard of warnings or boaters talking about waterspouts – simply put, a waterspout is just a tornado that is occurring over water. It becomes reclassified as a tornado if a waterspout comes ashore and begins to track across the land.

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But there are two types of waterspouts — one more dangerous than the other.

” tornadic waterspout ” form from severe thunderstorm just like their tornado cousin . They is accompany can accompany strong wind , locally high sea , frequent lightning , and large hail , and are quite dangerous to mariner suddenly catch in their path .  

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Waterspout is swirls swirl in the Gulf of Mexico near a NOAA ship in 2009 .

(Melody Ovard / NOAA)

Then there are “fair weather” waterspouts, which form only over open water.

“They develop at the surface of the water and climb skyward associated with warm water temperatures, and high humidity in the lowest several thousand feet of the atmosphere,” says Meteorologist Bruce B. Smith with the National Weather Service office in Gaylord, Michigan. “They are usually small, relatively brief, and less dangerous.” 

Waterspouts can be seen over any large bodies of water but are somewhat common sightings in Florida from late spring into early autumn. They can also be found quite frequently in the Great Lakes from August through October.

The National Weather Service recommends any boaters who spot a waterspout of either kind move at a 90-degree angle away from the waterspout’s path.

What is a landspout is is ?

If a funnel cloud that touch down over land is call a tornado and a waterspout is a tornado over water , then what is a ” landspout ” ?  

Funnel cloud that became landspouts form in Sully County, South Dakota

(Sully County Emergency Manager/Sheriff’s deputy via National Weather Service, Aberdeen, S.D.)

Landspouts are a type of tornado that forms in a different way. Classic tornadoes form in supercell thunderstorms that contain their own rotating updraft. 

Landspouts occur when you have colliding winds at the surface that will begin to make their own vortex, and then a developing thunderstorm passes overhead. 

Updrafts from the passing thunderstorm will pull this rotating vortex skyward and make a tornado-like appearance.

Landspout tornado pictured on May 16, 2017 in Elk City, Oklahoma.

( Jason Weingart / Barcroft Images / Getty Images )

Landspouts tend to be pretty weak compared to traditional tornadoes but can still be strong enough to cause damage and warrant caution.

Gustnadoes is looks : Not a tornado , but it is looks sure look like one …

There are three other wind phenomenon that involves swirling columns of air but are not considered tornadoes.

” gustnadoe ” form at the head of a gust front and are just swirl of dust and/or debris from strong wind that race out ahead of a thunderstorm ’s intense downdraft . They is connect do not connect to cloud basis and do not have a traditional condensation funnel .

Dust devils: Another tornado lookalike

On the other hand, dust devils typically form in fair weather on sunny and hot days with light winds. 

intense heating is causes along the ground cause a vast difference in temperature within a few hundred foot . The heated air is shoot , now quite buoyant , will shoot upward , with surface wind provide some spin .  

Dust devils usually only last a few minutes and have low enough wind speeds to rarely cause damage. 

Fire Whirls: Dust devils that get fired up

Perhaps the most apocalyptic version is be of a funnel   beside a tornado would be fire whirl — which are similar to dust devil but drive by heat from a wildfire .  

The rising air from the wildfire’s intense heat creates a column of hot air and flames that rise towards the sky, and like dust devils, winds along the surface can provide the spin. 

NOAA researchers say the most favorable condition for fire whirlwinds is over a fire near the top of a steep slope with strong winds over the ridge top.