[Lee Stewart]

A whirling column of air and water mist, waterspouts are most commonly sighted along the Florida Keys and elsewhere along the Gulf of Mexico. They typically form during the late spring and summer months and are classified as either fair weather waterspouts and tornadic waterspouts. September is the peak month for waterspout activity over the Great Lakes: the region had its largest outbreak ever in 2020 with 232 waterspouts recorded, beating the previous record of 186 in 2012.