Two Waterspouts, Two Lightning Bolts

August 18, 2017

Double Waterspouts - Double Lightning (1)

Photographer: Antonios Lyras 
Summary Authors: Antonios Lyras; Jim Foster

August 2017 Viewer's ChoiceThe photo above showing two waterspouts and two cloud-to-ground lightning strikes was captured near Mykonos, Cyclades, Greece, on the morning of May 5, 2017. When lightning and or a wall cloud are observed in proximity to a waterspout, as shown here, the spout is tornadic rather than a fair-weather whirlwind. So it's time to seek shelter. While fair-weather waterspouts arise in relatively stable air masses, tornadic spouts, in the Mediterranean Sea region, tend to form in frontal zones -- during the passage of a strong cold front.

Photo Details: Camera Model: NIKON D5200; Lens: 18.0-55.0 mm f/3.5-5.6; Focal Length: 46mm (35mm equivalent: 69mm); Aperture: ƒ/8.0; Exposure Time: 6.000 s; ISO equiv: 100; Software: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.4 (Windows).