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| Rare waterspouts appear on Qinghai Lake |
Tourists in north-west China were treated to a rare phenomenon this week when multiple waterspouts swirled over a lake.
These
giant columns appeared to have descended on waters at the same time. At
one point, as many as three could be seen rotating in close proximity.
The incredible scenes lasted for five minutes on Qinghai Lake in Qinghai Province on Wednesday, reported People's Daily Online.
Spectacular: Three giant water columns appeared on China's Qinghai Lake on Wednesday
The 26-second-long footage was taken by one of the onlookers and was released by China Central Television Station yesterday.
According to eyewitnesses, the spectacle occurred at around 10:30am when clouds suddenly appeared in the skies.
Onlookers quickly took out their mobile phones to capture the incredible sight.
The meteorological phenomenon is known as 'dragon sucking water' in Chinese.
One
unnamed spectator told a reporter from local Xining Evening News: 'The
phenomenon suddenly occurred above the calm Qinghai Lake. This is so
exciting.
'I have heard of "dragon sucking water" before. I'm so happy to witness the stunning scenes with my own eyes.'
The waterspouts rotated for around five minutes.
One excited eyewitness said the phenomenon suddenly occurred above the calm Lake. dailymail
Incredible: Tourists were stunned by the multiple waterspouts that occurred at the same time.
A spokesman from the Hainan Region Meteorological Observatory said that waterspout is a common sight on Qinghai Lake.
The
spokesman said: 'The temperatures above Qinghai Lake have been high
recently. When a cold front comes, it's quite normal to see the
phenomenon.'
According to the National Ocean Service of the United States of America, waterspouts fall into two categories: the tornadic ones and the fair-weather ones.
Tornadic
waterspout are usually accompanied by high winds and seas, large hail,
and frequent dangerous lightning. They develop downwards from
thunderstorms.
On
the other hand, fair-weather waterspouts form along the dark flat base
of a line of developing cumulus clouds. They develop on the surface of
waters and work their way upwards.
As fair-weather waterspouts form in light wind conditions, they normally move very little. dailymail
Read more: What is a waterspout?
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