This waterspout off the coast of southern Croatia is simply magnificent.
Filmed on Wednesday by storm-chaser/photographer Boris Basic in the historic seaside city of Dubrovnik, the video captures the tall, thin vortex as its spins in place, connecting the ocean with the sky.
Basic, who's a member of the Dubrovnik Storm Chasers team, a group of amateur meteorologists who track and photograph severe weather in the region, told The Huffington Post that the video above captured just one of 20 waterspouts he and his team witnessed on Wednesday in the Adriatic Sea off Croatia's rocky coast.
Waterspouts are essentially tornadoes over water, although they're usually less intense. They are formed by cumulus clouds, usually in environments with a lot of moisture. Although waterspouts are more likely to occur in tropical climates, they have been seen throughout temperate climates in regions including Western Europe and the Great Lakes, where a record waterspout outbreak was spotted in 2003.
Waterspouts not only pose a danger to swimmers and boaters but also to aircraft and to people on nearby beaches. In 1921, a waterspout even threw a car off a 400-foot precipice in southern Colorado, killing two women.
(hat tip Storyful Viral)
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