Waterspout — Lake Borgne, Gulf of Mexico

2023-05-17 · near Shell Beach Station (shbl1), Lake Borgne, Gulf of Mexico

Event narrative

Two waterspouts observed on Lake Borgne by the public.

Wider weather episode

Scattered showers and thunderstorms developed during the early afternoon on May 17th. One of those storms initiated over New Orleans before moving onto Lake Borgne. With the help of some boundaries over the lake, the storm was able to take advantage of the vorticity of the boundaries and produce a couple of waterspouts before moving south off of the lake 30 minutes later.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (29.9930, -89.7960)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1104597. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.