Twisted Sisters

A scientist caught the birth of rare twin waterspouts on camera as the twisters churned to life over Louisiana waters yesterday (May 9). One of the powerful and unusually long-lived twisters damaged homes and cut power as it barreled across Grand Isle, a long, narrow island along the southeastern leg of the state's Gulf coastline.

The tornadoes formed at the front edge of a powerful storm system that moved across the region yesterday afternoon.

"You could clearly see them forming in the sky," he said, "and I was able to get them on the camera as they were starting to drop."

The pictures are cool, and the full article gives some background information on waterspouts and the levels of danger they pose.

While these occurred in Louisiana, they are not rare around the shores of the US.  While stuck behind a wreck in Florida, I watched one develop about a mile from me.  It was one of the bad kind, but it stayed out in the water and went parallel to the coast.  The storm had already driven the boats away, so nobody was hurt.  Still, I was humbled by its raw power.  As far away as I was, you could feel the strangeness in the air.

One of these sisters ventured onto land, but so far the damage is relatively light.  For two dangerous twisters to form and sustain for so long, it's the best outcome one could hope for.