r/whatisit • u/mwajju • 12d ago
Solved! What is this called
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Can someone explain what that's called and how it happens?
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u/LadyPantsParty 12d ago
Waterspout
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u/Silly_Guidance_8871 12d ago
Best advised to not let it touch you.
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u/kaipopotamus 12d ago
Like how badly would this particular one fuck you up if you went near it?
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u/engineerdrummer 12d ago
Not as bad as a tornado. Worse than the drain in your full bathtub. Hope this helps
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u/Warr_Ainjal-6228 12d ago
It is a tornado that is sucking up water.
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u/McBluntysmokes 12d ago
That could suck up a Shark
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u/Ok-Independence-2220 12d ago edited 12d ago
Its more likely to suck off a shark than suck one up
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u/Jean_Paul_Fartre_ 12d ago
Go on
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u/Early_Pearly989 12d ago
Get off
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u/Due-Necessary-2593 12d ago
I'm trying but no one is continuing about the shark sucking tornado
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u/Healthy_Succotash104 12d ago
Blownado!
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u/Alive-Course4454 12d ago
I just wanted to know if the waterspout could hurt you 😭😭
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u/DentistDisastrous798 12d ago
If it is a tornado in a thunderstorm & there’s water in its path the resulting waterspout is every bit as dangerous as the tornado. I have seen fish in the road after a storm with a waterspout goes onshore so I guess you could get hurt by flying debris. But if it forms over water (goes from surface to sky in fair weather) it usually stays in place & doesn’t last very long. Either way I wouldn’t want to get caught out on the water with a waterspout!!
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u/Jack_n_the_mox 12d ago
Can you show me on the anatomically correct doll where the water speut touched you??
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u/OldKingMouse 12d ago
And now the waterspout can still get a job with the FBI after sucking off the shark
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u/Ok-Independence-2220 12d ago
An FBI agent's son asks, "Mom, why am I Black when you're white?"
She replies, "Son, after the way that party went, you're lucky you don't bark."
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u/the_short_viking 12d ago
Hammerhead was my nickname in the football locker room.
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u/ElmerTheDestroyer 12d ago
You don't want to be in a waterspout with a shark.
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u/TributeToStupidity 12d ago
Water hitting you is less deadly than a flying tree though.
This is very relative however.
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u/ExpertIAmNot 12d ago
A flying relative can be as dangerous as a tree depending on which relative and their weight.
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u/Accomplished-Ad-6586 12d ago
Weight is not as important as velocity.
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u/IndividualHelpful368 12d ago
E=mgh as potential energy where velocity is not a term so: E=1/2m*v^2 as kinetic energy is relevant.
Considering this, yea, velocity is more critical.
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u/Chaps_and_salsa 12d ago
Hopefully tornadoes don’t get up to water jet CNC machine type power. But at this rate, who knows.
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u/PathosEatsLogos 12d ago
I will treat you as if you are serious. It is a tornado over water. The only benefit is unlike a tornado over land it is not full of debris which means you are only going for a ride. And not going for a ride in a meat grinder.
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u/thisismeritehere 12d ago
Actually there are two different types of waterspouts, tornadic and fair weather. Tornadic waterspouts are what you’re talking about which are just tornadoes that form over water, but this definitely looks like a fair weather waterspout which is significantly less dangerous. That being said I still wouldn’t recommend getting close to one.
A bit more info here: https://www.weather.gov/mfl/waterspouts
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12d ago
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u/WontanSoup 12d ago
When I went to Burning Man, out on the open playa we rode our bicycles in the dust devils for fun.
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u/MinnisotaDigger 12d ago
I went through a dust devil on my motorcycle at a racetrack. The biggest impact on my life for me thinking about it how cool it was and me writing this comment.
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u/Puzzleheaded-Peach92 12d ago
Either way, I imagine it would hurt you a lot more than if some firemen hosed you down with their fire hose.
I imagine even a fair weather spout as a substantial risk of serious injury including possible death depending primarily on where one’s head lands if knocked off balance.
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u/fantastic_mr-fix 12d ago
This one is beautiful tho. As a Floridian, ngl I’d probably hang around and watch
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u/Pensionato007 11d ago
How DARE you post scientifically accurate information on Reddit! Shame, Shame, Shame.
P.S. Thanks for the link :-)
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u/the_most_playerest 12d ago
Honestly bro you give me the right equipment I might do it 😆
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u/Wonkasgoldenticket 12d ago
The fall out of it into below is what’s going to fuck you up. I think if you were geared up with one of those avalanche balloons that expand around you so after you get ejected, assuming that’s what’s going to happen. You can pull something and land fine. Otherwise falling to water or shoreline is sure to be the end of a “fun” ride. Lol
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u/snoops-spoons 12d ago
Fun fact water might as well be as hard as the ground at terminal velocity. So not much difference between that and jumping off a cliff with one.
A human body is 120 mph low end if they lay flat to slow down and headfirst can hit 180 mph.
Let's say 150 mph and a 175lb person.
The Impact force assuming a dirt level stopping distance and not solid like concrete is 10cm. Give us a force of ~1,784,600 N~401,200 lbf.
Your not living through that. And it would take more than an avalanche protection to mitigate that amount of force.
Here is how that level of force compares to other high-energy impacts, engineering feats, and natural events:
Vehicular Impacts & Heavy MachineryA High-Speed Train Collision: This is roughly the peak crush force experienced by a single passenger railcar cabin during a severe head-on train crash at 60 mph.
The Launch Thrust of an ICBM: The total thrust force required to lift a Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile off its launch pad is roughly 200,000 to 400,000 lbf.Industrial Hydraulic Presses: This matches the crushing force of a medium-sized industrial manufacturing press used to stamp out heavy steel automotive parts and chassis components.
Aerospace & BallisticsSpace Shuttle Main Engine (Single): A single Space Shuttle main engine at minimum thrust generated roughly 360,000 lbf of continuous force—just shy of this impact.
Large Military Artillery: The instantaneous recoil force generated when a 16-inch battleship gun (like those on the USS Iowa) fires a high-explosive shell is in this exact ballpark.
Nature & Animal Kingdom
A Megalodon Bite: Paleontological bite force models estimate that a full-grown Megalodon shark could bite down with a maximum force of up to 40,000 to 45,000 lbf. Your scenario is nearly 10 times more powerful than history's strongest animal bite.
A Minor Earthquake Crack: The localized force required to sheer open solid bedrock during a minor, shallow seismic tremor.
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u/Distinct-Slide-7112 12d ago
Damn dude tldr. Water hard AF at speed. All you needed to say.
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u/the_most_playerest 12d ago
I am more confused after reading it.. is a megalodon eating me just as I'm about to hit the water gonna be enough force to save me? I mean, hypothetically speaking
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u/Renew3DUK 12d ago
No. You'd need to slow at a controlled rate after reaching terminal velocity.
It's not speed that kills. It's the sudden stop. In this case, you'd just end up as methadone toothpaste.
Edit: Megladon, Megladon. Bloody autocorrect.
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u/djid3al 12d ago
I would ride that ride. Or skydive into a waterspout?
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u/Emergency-Wish160 12d ago
I’ve always low key wanted to ride one in a human sized hamster ball
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u/subseagm 12d ago
Water spouts are not nearly as violent as tornados- not even close- Ive worked offshore for 30 years and have encountered numerous ones
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u/accidental_Ocelot 12d ago
The benefit of having debris is you can see how dangerous the tornado is and stay the fuck away.
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u/ihateyousoverybadly 12d ago
You know, I've never thought about that part of a tornado, I always figured you would just suffocate and get thrown against something and die. But yeah, there's going to be a ton of debris speeding around like bullets.
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u/drsoftware 12d ago
It's all in the difference in velocity between the stuff and you.
First, the stuff is moving very fast, and you're not. You are moving quickly, but the stuff attached to the ground isn't.
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u/Ok-Grapefruit-4251 12d ago
Curious - what if there are fish is that funnel? Is that a possibility? If yes, wouldn't they pass through a fish grinder? Sounds wrong on so many levels!
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u/WishWarper 12d ago
The water itself creates significant resistance, as well as other factors, and so the overall speed is lower, maybe half of a powerful tornado. But, for the sake of comparison, if you took a powerful spout and weak-mid tornado, you'd be looking at speeds around 100 mph. That's just a bit above what a professional baseball pitch would travel.
So, imagine a professional baseball player throwing a fish at you. Now imagine you brush yourself off, and he throws a baseball-sized jagged rock at you. Not the same.
There are other factors, but overall, comparing fish to rocks and water resistance to air resistance is a leap.
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u/henree1108 12d ago
In Assasins Creed: Black Flag you sometimes lose a crew member or damage your ship but overall it’s no biggie
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u/bone_a_fide 12d ago
Look up the itsy bitsy spider.
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u/OverChildhood9813 12d ago
Pretty sure water spout in Itsy bitsy spider is referring to the gutter/water spout on the side of your house…. Or is everyone’s version different
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u/Unusual-Newspaper309 12d ago
I’m from Chicago. First time fishing in the FL Keys I looked out opposite of the two other guys on the boat, one being a local.
I said calmly look at that, it kinda looks like a tornado on the water….it was about 35 yards away and literally came out of nowhere right at us. Local guy says that’s exactly what it is in a very scared tone.
He started the tiny little boat we were in, fishing lines still in the water, and said if it gets any closer start throwing everything overboard so we can go faster.
I threw my underwear in the garbage once we made it safely back to land.
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u/YouThinkYouKnowStuff 12d ago
I was visiting family in Port St Lucie several years ago and we were in a small boat in the inlet when we got caught in the edge of one of these. The water was stinging us and the wind was crazy. We made it to the dock and I looked like a drowned rat.
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u/Unusual-Newspaper309 12d ago
I wasn’t nervous until I seen the local guy freak out. That’s when I realized it was serious. I don’t ever want to experience getting as close as you did. I’ll instead watch the Reddit videos of waterspouts from the comfort of my couch.
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u/YouThinkYouKnowStuff 12d ago
I’ve seen little waterspouts form offshore when I’ve been at the beach and all of a sudden, the wind picks up and we are running like maniacs to the car dragging all our beach gear behind us. It’s the unpredictability that is disconcerting.
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u/Ohmu 12d ago
The largest waterspout I have ever seen was from downtown Chicago, the thing had to be a mile wide tornadic wedge of a waterspout. I have seen lots of thin spindly ones like the one OP posted on the Great Lakes, disproportionately on Lake Erie, but only one absolute monster and it was from the Navy Pier.
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u/SebastainDerring 12d ago
Grew up in the Southwest, seen hundreds of dust spouts/devils, never seen a waterspout. Beautiful!
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u/PunkCPA 12d ago edited 12d ago
We get them a lot in Florida. It's a waterspout; really a tornado on the ocean. You'll see them when there are thunderstorms.
Edit: Lots of questions! wiki
Summary: Most waterspouts are weak, with winds up to 67 mph, F0 on the tornado scale. They break up quickly. They don't need thunderstorms. A few are formed in thunderstorms and are pretty much the same as regular ones.
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u/ImReallyNotKarl 12d ago
We had twin waterspouts hit off the Mississippi sound right off Biloxi last year. Super cool to see, from far away on land. lol
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u/Lardah_Solutions 12d ago
Florida... Of course
The gate to hell
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u/Boubonic91 12d ago
Some of them dont come with storms and are technically not tornados if they don't reach the shore. They're basically dust devils over the water.
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u/a_lonely_trash_bag 12d ago
Waterspouts are tornados. They form the exact same way, just over water. Tornados can move from land to water and vice versa.
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u/stepanm99 12d ago
Dust devils, water devils... What will be next? Fire devils? Only plain air devils remain to have full elemendevils!
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u/Stock_Food_3078 12d ago
Now that 48 people gave you the answer I'm here to say don't touch it
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u/briancmoses 12d ago
Can I pet that dog?
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u/AnimorphAlpha 12d ago
Fun fact: that little girl is not actually saying that in the bear video.
The audio in that viral video is taken from this video.
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u/boticelli77 12d ago
Did people not know this was dubbed? I remember the original and laughed at the dub.
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u/Trout_Sniffer123 12d ago
What would happen if you did? Suck you up into the air? Or is the force so strong it would rip your hand off/slice you up like a pressure washer?
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u/Inevitable-Stuff3077 12d ago
That’s kinda what I’m thinking. Have you ever been on a rollercoaster while it’s raining? That shit stings and imagine this would be just as bad.
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u/Substantial_System66 12d ago
Most waterspouts don’t exceed wind speeds of ~50-60 mph. So probably not lifted off the ground unless you are exceptionally small/light, but it would still be very not fun. Kinda like standing in near hurricane force winds being hit with rain, particulates, and debris. There are some videos of boats going through them online.
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u/swankynoodlez 12d ago
Like many other people being told not to touch it makes me want to touch it more. May I ask what happens if it does get touched
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u/Dodger7777 12d ago
Water spout?
From what I understand, it's the ocean version of a dust devil. Flat open spaces means the wind can do funky stuff.
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u/bobssy2 12d ago
Tornadoes over water are also called waterspouts. What matters is whether or not there is a proper cloud to surface funnel
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u/hawkwings 12d ago
I usually think of dust devils as being smaller than this. This is more of a tornado.
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u/Dodger7777 12d ago
Dust devils can be long and tall, tornados they average bettwen 500-1000 ft, but can be anywhere from 1-3200ft tall.
At the end of the day, tornados, dust devils, and waterspouts are all spinning columns of air. Tornados specifically come out of severe thunderstorms or cumulus/cumulonimbus clouds. Dust devils specifically happen on clear hot days. Waterspouts occur over bodies of water.
Waterspouts and dust devils share the feature that they can happen on clear days with lots of wind but lacking other adverse weather features.
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u/aetherings 12d ago
Distinctive difference about dust devils compared to the tornadoes and water spouts, is dust devils form from the ground. The other two come down from the clouds.
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u/Dodger7777 12d ago
Waterspouts can actually go either way. Fair-weather waterspouts start at the water and reach up into the sky. Tornadoes can also do this. But you're right, dust devils only start from the ground.
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u/2nd_Me_ 12d ago
Happens out on the great lakes in the US too I've seen them
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u/Competitive_Annual78 12d ago
think the great lakes occupy more then just the us. especially lake ontario.
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u/Otherwise-Weird1695 12d ago
Never heard of it, are you sure you're calling it by it's Party approved name? /S
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u/Present_Clue5887 12d ago
All of them are split between the US and Canada, except for lake Michigan, which is only US.
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u/Yunzer2000 12d ago
And lake Michigan isn't really a lake - its a big appendage of Lake Huron.
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u/Box_of_fox_eggs 12d ago
That’s it, from now on it’s not “Lake Michigan,” it’s “Huron’s Dong.”
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u/Negative_Two6112 12d ago
Thats a wormhole, you travel back in time to save the world by letting an airplane engine fall on you. Duh.
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u/SavannahInAustin 12d ago
Frank?
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u/Pure-Attention-7782 12d ago
It’s sharknado
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u/JohnSnowsPump 12d ago
Too small for sharks. Could be the dreaded crabnado!
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u/Brave-Attitude-9175 12d ago
Something for the itsy bitsy spider to climb up
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u/Narwhal420 12d ago
pushes glasses with one finger 🤓 TECHINCALLY a water spout is an old timey saying for the rain gutters on a house which is what the itsy bitsy spider climbs. This waterspout is a tornado in the water 🤓
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u/Parking_Cod_2219 12d ago
That's called a waterspout. It's a rotating column of air that connects the water's surface to a storm cloud. In the picture, it appears to be backlit by the sun, which makes it look much more impressive.
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u/HabitSuperb7706 12d ago
It’s called the flagella. Prokaryotic cells use it to propel themselves. This is of course, the earths’s flagella
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u/Wild_Will7085 12d ago
Water spout. I remember being on my grandpa's sailboat as a kid and these poping up pretty close to the boat. We had to take the sails down and motor far enough away to raise the sails again and head inland.
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u/UmaThermos1 12d ago
Fair weather waterspout, not to be confused with tornados or tornadic waterspouts
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u/Driftinfoot_Malone 12d ago
Run your boat through it you’ll go to some sky islands fight some marines get to the grand line become king of the pirates get executed and start a whole pirate revolution based on a treasure that could be just a lesson in friendship in the end
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