Environment Canada has confirmed reports of waterspouts crossing Lake Erie Thursday morning near Colchester.
Three waterspouts were spotted on the lake around 8 a.m., circling over the surface for quite some time before disappearing. Meteorologist Geoff Coulson says the spouts are tied to a storm cell over Western Lake Erie.
“Not a lot of wind to push this storm cell around, so it is kind of just sitting over Western Lake Erie,” he says. “Part of the cell may drift onshore later this morning, but these types of waterspouts would collapse as they make landfall.”
Coulson says these types of spouts can produce 80 km/h to 90 km/h winds.
Environment Canada issued a waterspout watch for the region Wednesday night. The threat of spouts will end by midday.
