Waterspout — Conneaut Oh To Ripley Ny, Lake Erie

2020-08-29 · near Ripley, Conneaut Oh To Ripley Ny, Lake Erie

Event narrative

A waterspout was reported offshore Presque Isle State Park or about five miles NNW of Erie. The waterspout lasted about 4 minutes.

Wider weather episode

As a surface low moved from southeastern South Dakota to west-central Wisconsin, the accompanying stationary front remained draped from west to east across the western and central basins of Lake Erie, and northwest Pennsylvania during the morning of August 29th. A line of showers and thunderstorms advanced eastward across Lake Erie and northeast Ohio during the early morning hours. One of the storms generated a gale-force peak wind gust at Fairport Harbor, OH. These storms encountered weak to moderate instability, moderate vertical wind shear, and moderate DCAPE.

During the late morning, a localized cluster of rain showers moved eastward along the stationary front over southeastern Lake Erie. One of these showers spawned a waterspout offshore Presque Isle State Park, PA. These showers encountered weak instability and vertical wind shear, and the waterspout was probably non-mesocyclonic in nature.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (42.1803, -80.1167)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 916242. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.