For the second day in a row, waterspouts were spotted in the Strait of Georgia just off shore of Powell River early Thursday morning.
These occurred near Harwood Island, in exact same region as the waterspouts early Wednesday morning.
Environment Canada has confirmed there were three concurrent waterspouts Wednesday, and have rated them as EFO on the Enhanced Fujita scale. Thursday’s waterspout have yet to be confirmed.
Waterspouts are tornadoes over water and should be treated as such. A waterspout watch was in effect.
The waterspouts did not make landfall and there were no reports of injuries or damage.
A study done by Environment Canada reveals the occurrence of up to five waterspouts in two days is incredibly rare.
Based on data from 1998-2014, B.C. had an average of 6.5 waterspout reports per year, and half of those (3.25 per year) were on the South Coast.
Data from the last 10 years, shows even fewer — only 3.6 waterspout reports per year in all of B.C.
Although waterspouts occur most often as singular events, it is common for waterspouts to come in ‘families’ of sometimes two or more.
Waterspouts across the South Coast typically occur in the winter. However, waterspouts in May and June do occur.
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