Alert: Waterspouts Possible as Cold Air Meets Warm Lake Michigan

Watch for waterspouts as cool air moves over Lake Michigan, making conditions ideal.

If you're headed over to the lakeshore within the coming days you'll want to know the signs and dangers to look out for:

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Now that the days are getting shorter and kids are going back to school, can you feel the fall in the air? Heck, our first Spirit Halloween store opened for the season on August 6th and fall flavors have already hit the chain coffee shops.

Local meteorologist Jeff Porter of WWMT has shared the latest forecast for the weekend and it looks like we can expect the big cool down to continue:

A much cooler airmass arrives in West Michigan this weekend. From Sunday through the early part of next week, highs won't be too far from 70 degrees. The convergence of cool air over the much warmer surface of Lake Michigan is the key ingredient in the formation of a waterspout.

I was up north in Pentwater, Michigan recently where the water temperature was 72 degrees. I was shocked to encounter such mild temperatures that far up the lakeshore.

And yes, I absolutely jumped in and splashed around!

As Porter explains, when the cool air of the incoming cold front mixes with the warm water temperatures of the lake it encourages, "rapid condensation and the formation of a rotating column of air." I had no idea it is common to see waterspouts forming over the lake during the changing of the seasons, August through October.

While some waterspouts may last for only a few minutes some have been known to last as long as 20 minutes. If you've ever seen any of those cheesy "wild weather" shows on The Weather Channel then you know waterspouts can still whip up a world of damage!

According to NOAA and the National Weather Service if you are on the water and encounter a waterspout the best way to avoid it is to:

move at a 90-degree angle to its apparent movement. One should never try to move closer to investigate a waterspout as some can be just as dangerous as tornadoes.