Is a waterspout a tornado that lost all its energy sucking water up into the clouds?
The usual definition of a waterspout is that it’s a tornado over the water, but as with many things in meteorology, it’s more complicated than this. A tornado that goes over a lake or other water doesn’t lose energy by lifting water because waterspouts don’t suck up water people used to think they did. Click here for more on waterspouts.
