‘Like a movie scene.’ Take a look at twin water spouts swirling in Florida

The appearance of a double waterspout over Florida Gulf Coast waters drew awe and amazement from witnesses.

The twin spouts were captured in dozens of photos and videos as they spiraled in waters near the place where the Manatee River meets Tampa Bay. They formed around 5:30 p.m Sunday., according to witnesses.

“It really was unreal!” wrote Jeni Scheid, who shared video of the incident with the Bradenton Herald. “Seemed like a movie scene and when it began to connect, it looked like a portal to Heaven and our brains could not compute what we were seeing!”

Denis Phillips, chief meteorologist for WFTS-ABC in Tampa Bay, said a large storm was responsible for the twin waterspouts, as well as a lone spout that had appeared earlier in Tampa Bay.

Bradenton Mayor Gene Brown and his wife Gina were among those who saw the spouts, and they shared the video with the Bradenton Police Department.

“Drivers slowed and even stopped to witness the weather phenomenon,” the police department said.

What caused Tampa Bay waterspouts?

“Tornadic waterspouts are simply tornadoes that form over water, or move from land to water,” the National Weather Service says. “They have the same characteristics as a land tornado. They are associated with severe thunderstorms, and are often accompanied by high winds and seas, large hail and frequent dangerous lightning.”

Another type, known as a “fair weather” water spout, forms during calm conditions and poses less threat, the agency says.

“Fair weather waterspouts are usually a less dangerous phenomena, but common over South Florida’s coastal waters from late spring to early fall,” the weather service says.

Stephen Shiveley, a meteorologist at the the National Weather Service’s Tampa Bay office, said Sunday’s spouts were the tornadic variety.

“They were very well-developed,” Shiveley said. “I would definitely call them tornadic. But they’ll be officially defined as waterspouts unless they touch land.”

Shiveley said that a collision of a sea breeze, a breeze coming off the Manatee River and thunderstorm gusts was the perfect mix for waterspouts to form.

“Three different winds moving at different directions at different times caused that spin or that rotation to start,” Shiveley said. “That’s how we get a lot of our waterspouts during the summer months.”

Shiveley said that while fair weather waterspouts are common in Florida, an event like Sunday’s, with two well-formed spouts, is “pretty rare.”

Fair weather spouts “are the ones you see that almost look like pencils,” Shiveley said. “But the ones you saw yesterday, those well-developed ones, we’ll see a couple of those a year.”

“This one happened to form near Anna Maria Island, where you have a lot of people, a lot of cameras,” Shiveley added. “It’s hard for us to detect them on radar because they’re such finite, small areas. We could potentially have more of them, they’re just never seen or reported.”

The double spouts lasted for around 15 to 20 minutes, and no landfall or damage was reported, Shiveley said.

The weather service warns that you should never move closer to a waterspout, which can be as dangerous as a tornado.

“The best way to avoid a waterspout is to move at a 90-degree angle to its apparent movement,” the agency says.

Here are some more photos and videos of Sunday’s waterspouts captured by witnesses: