How does tornadoes differ from waterspouts? A meteorologist explains

Horry County locals and visitors may have seen a waterspout over the weekend as storms developed in different parts of the Grand Strand.

After the National Weather Service issued a tornado warning Saturday, a photo taken of what appeared to be a tornado in the Little River area. A meteorologist confirmed Monday it was actually a waterspout.

Before the tornado warning in Little River, there was reports of a waterspout in Pawleys Island.

Mark Bacon told The Sun News there are a few differences between tornadoes and waterspouts -- one being that tornadoes happen over land and waterspouts occur on the water.

They also form through different circumstances, he added.

“A tornado is something that descends from a supercell thunderstorm, and a supercell thunderstorm itself is rotating,” Bacon explained.

But he said waterspouts are not always attached to a rotating thunderstorm. They are produced by cumulus clouds, which then sometimes cause thunderstorms, Bacon added.

He said waterspouts can also come on land, but they’re much more hazardous to mariners than anyone or anything else, adding that they’re probably not on the same scale as tornadoes.

“I would say 99% of the time that when they do come ashore they dissipate within a couple of yards,” Bacon said.