Waterspout watch in effect in Ontario

Monday, July 29, 2013, 10:54 AM -

People in Melin, Ontario captured images of a waterspout as it moved over Lake Erie on Sunday. No damage or injuries were reported. 

The risk for more waterspouts continues on Monday, prompting Environment Canada to issue a waterspout watch. 

"An upper level disturbance moving over the relatively warm waters of the Great Lakes is creating conditions favourable for the development of waterspouts," EC says in their statement.

One resident from Callander, Ontario called The Weather Network Stormline to report several waterspouts on Monday morning.

"I've been watching nine separate waterspouts form, but only three have actually come right down to make contact," she said. 

According to Monica Vaswani, a meteorologist at The Weather Network, it's pretty unusual to see waterspouts at this time of year. 

"Typically, waterspouts are seasonally dependent and we start to see the risk for waterspouts in late summer, early fall," says Vaswani. "The risk usually increases when we get those harder cold snaps at the start of fall, but a summertime occurrence isn't completely unheard of either."

While they look like tornadoes, waterspouts are usually less destructive and have a shorter lifespan than land-based twisters.

Environment Canada says Monday's waterspout threat will diminish over Lake Huron and Lake Erie through the afternoon hours and over Georgian Bay and Lake Ontario by the evening as the low pressure area moves away.

Mariners are advised to monitor the marine warning for the most current information.

Monday's waterspout risk