A gigantic waterspout swirled over Lake Constance at the weekend.
There are incredible shots of the monster in the sky.
A tornado expert sounds the alarm.
Friedrichshafen - It is a natural spectacle that is fascinating, but also causes discomfort: A huge column of water protrudes from Lake Constance.
Last weekend two gigantic waterspouts were spotted on the lake.
It's not the first time.
Last August, a video of a Lake Constance tornado caused a sensation.
And this type of tornado over the water will be more frequent and violent in the future.
"It is assumed that tornadoes become more violent with more energy in the atmosphere," explains the tornado expert of the German Weather Service (DWD), Andreas Friedrich.
Such wind tubes would form again and again as waterspouts even over larger lakes in Germany such as Lake Constance, Lake Chiemsee or Lake Starnberg.
Waterspouts on Lake Constance: tornado expert explains the phenomenon
For the formation of such tornadoes, several factors would have to come together, emphasized the expert Friedrich: strong temperature differences, rain clouds that do not hang more than a kilometer above the surface, moist air and different wind directions at different heights.
“It has to be there for at least a few minutes,” said Friedrich.
In Langenargen, the two waterspouts did no major damage.
According to Friedrich, how dangerous such tornadoes are cannot be said in general terms: “It depends on the strength.
It is possible that a waterspout hits land.
There it can cause damage like a tornado. ”Friedrich advised anyone who observes the formation of such a cloud trunk should avoid the affected region in any case.
In Germany, between 20 and 60 tornadoes are reported each year, said Friedrich. This number has increased in recent years, but probably not because of climate change: "The number of unreported cases has decreased, these events are observed more often than before with webcams and cell phone cameras." The main season for tornadoes is late summer and autumn.
(dpa)