News of a possible tornado striking Himatangi and Foxton beaches on Monday morning about 10.30am had a few nerves rattled for a while.
However, it turned out these funnels pouring out of very dark clouds were just waterspouts, because none of them made landfall, and they moved upwards rather than downwards.
Waterspouts form along a mass of dark columns of cloud, they develop on the water surface and move upwards. They develop in fair weather. By the time it is visible it nears maturity. A tornado, which happens in bad weather, moves downward and wreaks havoc when it makes landfall.
A few people supplied the Chronicle with photos. The scare happened within days of the first anniversary of last year’s tornado that hit Levin, and generated $8.1 million in insurance claims.
