Triple waterspout vortexes filmed off the coast of Beddingestrand, Sweden

A rare weather phenomenon was recorded in Sweden about two weeks ago as three waterspout vortexes formed off the coast of Beddingestrand, Skåne – southern Sweden.

A waterspout is an intense columnar vortex, usually appearing as a funnel-shaped cloud, that occurs over a body of water. They are connected to a towering cumuliform cloud or a cumulonimbus cloud. In the common form, it is a non-supercell tornado over water and they do not suck up water.

The video was filmed by Phlip Devries in Beddingestrand and you can watch it here.

While waterspouts are often weaker than most of its land counterparts, stronger versions spawned by mesocyclones do occur. Waterspouts have a five-part life cycle: – formation of a dark spot on the water surface, spiral pattern on the water surface, formation of a spray ring, development of the visible condensation funnel, and ultimately decay.

On occasions they reach land at which point they become what's understood as a tornado. Interacting with land they can be devastating as observed and recorded in Croatia less then a month ago. What's interesting about that event is that just a few minutes before the video begins, there were two waterspouts that rotated one around another which then merged into one twister, about 50 meters in diameter, that hit the land.

The video was captured on July 27, 2014, near the city of Orebić on the island of Pelješac, Croatia, by Gabor Klauser. It is being referred to as the most dramatic tornado footage ever recorded in Croatia:

​Video filmed by Gabor Klauser​, Hungary

Featured image credit: Philip Devries, Sweden