WATER-SPOUTS | AdventAI

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Jun 23, 1887

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 13, No. 24.

WATER-SPOUTS.

WATER-SPOUTS are simply whirlwinds on the ocean. They are caused by atmospheric currents which form a whirl, generally quite high in the air, a cloud from which reaches down in the shape of an inverted cone to the surface of the sea. On reaching this the water commences to boil and effervesce, just as it does when a steamer’s propeller is churning, and an upright cone is formed under and joined to the first one, giving the completed spout the appearance of a solid column, shaped like an hour-glass. Spray in considerable quantities is carried up the column, just as leaves, sticks, and other solids are by tornadoes on land. Often there is a hollow, saucer-like space at the base of the column. Occasionally two spouts form near each other, and then suddenly merge into one.

In color, water-spouts are black or gray. Sometimes they are straight, and sometimes spiral and standing at a considerable angle with the surface of the ocean. They have both a circular and a forward movement, but ordinarily they are not of long duration. The upper and lower cones move with different degrees of speed, and the spout first bends and then breaks and disappears. When the spout is completed, a roaring noise is heard like that caused by a waterfall. After it breaks, water descends in the shape of heavy rain, and this, even in the middle of the ocean, is always fresh, showing that it comes from the clouds and is not the salt spray raised from the sea. In some cases the base of this wonderful column is as much as five hundred feet in diameter, and the whole spout half a mile high. They are most common in the tropics, but are occasionally encountered in the Atlantic, as high as forty degrees north latitude. Often several appear at once. It has been thought that they were most frequent in the hot summer months, but since the issue by the Hydrographic Office of the North Atlantic Pilot Chart, nearly as many have been reported in winter as in summer, thus upsetting former theories on the subject.

The influence of a spout is not felt very far from its immediate vicinity, and a vessel is not ordinarily in any danger unless directly below it. In this case, however, vessels sometimes lose their sails and masts, and occasionally some of the crew are swept overboard. When a vessel is threatened in this way the danger may be overcome by firing a cannon ball into the center of the spout, which bursts it and renders it harmless.

If a spout, formed near the coast, passes in its forward motion from the sea on to the land, and there encounters anything to suddenly break it, heavy and damaging torrents result, which sometimes cause great loss of life.—Christian Union.