Awesome Waterspouts

[sailortonyb Allied Mis]

I saw this and made a copy. This is supposedly an actual photo taken about 10-15 miles south of the mouth of the Mississippi River just a few days before Hurricane Lili in 2002. Everyone on the platform swears it is genuine.Pretty awesome I would say.

 

[SweetTrade]

WOW

I tell you what i might be jumping in that mini sub if i was there!!!

 

[Captain Bob]

That would be a lifeboat......

*

 

[r.w.landau]

That is serious water spouts!

I have seen one that was more than 5 miles away and started much higher and the spout twisted to the water in a narrow almost invisable spout. These spouts are defined and real. Thanks great picture.r.w.

 

[Franklin]

question

Are water spouts the same thing as a tornado, just over water? I thought they were different...smaller, until I heard the wind can get up to 200 mph...and now I see these that look like tornados.

 

[sailortonyb Allied Mis]

Escape Capsule

They are escape capsules...sometimes referred to as "the Orange Coffin".Next time I'll take a pic of one with the stated capoacity on it. It will blow your mind how many grown men they are rated for when I'm not sure if they could fit that many in there under ideal conditions. They are fireproof in case of an oil or gas well fire, the water around the platforms or rigs will be on fire also flames raining down on you. They would probably be OK if they ever worked. Rarely are they actualy tested in the water. When we have fire drills or abandon platform drills, we assemble in front of them with our jackets on, (which means, less people could actually fit inside) one man goes inside and starts the engine and shuts it off again in 60 seconds so that he doesnt burn up the engine without sea water cooling. Then the drill is over. I'm not sure of the exact interval when detailed testing is required, but when it is done, the next day a safety systems engineer and mechanic have to come out to fix it. So much for having faith in it.

 

[Richard Bryer]

hoax

Goggle " water spouts hurricane lili"

 

[sailortonyb Allied Mis]

Franklin ....Yes !!

Waterspouts are tornados over water. Generally they are not as big because without the air friction from trees, buildings, hills etc. to slow them down, they can get started sooner. They are also not as damagimg because getting hit with water at 150 - 200MPH, while not fun, is still better than getting hit with shingles, broken glass, etc.From what I know, which aint much, there are the two types....tornadic waterspouts and fair weather waterspouts. Tornadic waterspouts form exactly like tornados do and fair weather waterspouts which form from by the same phenomona as a dust devil - thermals. They will form from seemingly innocent isolated clouds, make a pretty dancing rope shape. If they hit a shrimp boat, about the only damage will be their back deck might get cleaned off of everything loose, but not any major damage.

 

[sailortonyb Allied Mis]

Thanks Richard...

Thanks, I at first suspected it was not real for the same reasons - three of them, that size. I couldnt find where they stiched the waterspouts together, but some people are great at photo enhancing techniques. What made me the most suspicious was the fact that a hurricane was that close and the supply boats were still out there.I cant wait to send the google info back to that platform. Tony B

 

[Bill P.]

Link to Snopes....

http://www.snopes.com/photos/natural/lili.aspSomeone playing with photos - still cool though. We saw one this summer headed towards the docks at Destin - is was awesome!!!Fair winds.Bill

 

[RAD]

Pretty wild stuff

I used to work on high rise buildings back in the 70s on the Gulf in Clearwater Fl. and saw water spouts and they sure looked like tornados I used to get worried that they would come torwards land but they never did.