GEORGE TOWN: Despite being the talk of the town, the waterspout seen here recently has been happening for years, said the Penang Meteorological Department.
Although no such data was collected in past decades, a spokesman for the department said it was safe to say this was not a new occurrence.
“These days, people have handphones and they can take videos of the waterspout.
“Such an incident was probably just passed on by word of mouth before the days of the smartphone,” he said yesterday.
The spokesman was referring to widely circulated images and videos which showed a waterspout that appeared near the Penang Bridge on Tuesday evening.
It led to much interest among netizens, with some likening it to a tornado.
The spokesman said waterspouts can happen when weather conditions are unstable, although there has not been any record of them over the years.
Universiti Malaysia Terengganu Institute of Oceanography and Environment Associate Prof Dr Mohd Fadzil Mohd Akhir said waterspouts happen when there is atmospheric instability.
“A waterspout is a smaller version of a tornado. The heat from the clouds and the ocean gives it energy.
“The waterspout funnel can be quite dangerous if it is very strong. However, a waterspout only lasts for a few seconds or minutes at the most.
“When it touches land, it loses the energy derived from the ocean,” he said.
Dr Mohd Fadzil added that the heat spell over the past few weeks coupled with the sudden bout of rain could have contributed to the waterspout.
“It happens when there is a heavy thunderstorm and thick cumulus clouds.
“It is not common but it is not rare either. People rarely see it because it happens in the middle of the ocean,” he said.
Another waterspout was spotted in Penang on Nov 4 last year after a two-hour downpour.
Other waterspout sightings in recent years include one in Balik Pulau near Kampung Perlis and another at Pulau Betong.
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