WOOD-TV Channel 8 meteorologist Ellen Bacca reported the presence of a “gustnado” Sunday even over Gun Lake in Yankee Springs Township.
She said the gustnado formed along the leading edge of a strong storm front and spun up the waters over Gun Lake. There was no reported damage, but there were reports of minor wind damage in Kent and Barry counties.
Cara Donovan Schulte reported the unusual weather icon Sunday afternoon as the storm line was approaching Gun Lake.This is one of the indicators the whirl at the surface was just a gustnado, and not a landspout or tornado.
Bacca said, “Gustnados can form on the leading edges of strong storms as cool, outflow air slams into the surface and creates tiny twists and eddies in the wind. Often, they do minor damage and are not connected to the clouds aloft. These small, surface circulations only occur when the wind is turbulent.
“Not every whirl over water is considered to be a waterspout. Waterspouts often need very large bodies of water to form and always have a parent cloud to connect to aloft, unlike a gustnado, which spins up ahead of the storm line.”
