Waterspouts spotted on Mid North Coast as area hit by storms
Locals along the NSW coast have spotted multiple waterspouts forming in the ocean during storm activity. See the photos.
NSW
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When it rains it pours but wild weather in northern NSW reached new heights on Tuesday, whipping up a line of waterspouts along the coastline.
A line of storms forming along the lower Mid North Coast yesterday afternoon saw up to five water spouts spring up just off Harrington bearing down on the mouth of the Manning River.
Local resident Kirra Moffitt snapped a shot of the five waterspouts forming in the sea just off the coast about 4:30pm on Tuesday.
Hobby photographer Ms Moffitt, 23, was editing photos on her laptop when she spotted the spouts out the window of her home and ran to grab her camera.
“There were storm clouds everywhere but I looked out the window and saw a water spout from behind a tree,” Ms Moffitt said.
“I drove up to Pilot Hill (in Harrington) and all of a sudden there were five, it was so eerie but really incredible to see so many all at once.”
The waterspouts remains off the coastline for about thirty minutes before they collapsed.
The Bureau of Meteorology issued a severe weather warning for storms in the Mid North Coast area yesterday afternoon.
BOM forecaster Gabrielle Woodhouse said waterspouts were “common” when storm activity hits coastal areas.
“The current trough moving along the NSW coast creates the perfect environment for a waterspout,” Ms Woodhouse said.
“All you need is a shower of rain and turning winds on the sea surface, and we’re seeing fairly good rainfall across that part of NSW so it’s possible to see a number of waterspouts form.”
More rain is on the way for large areas of NSW as a cold front and trough moves through, with coastal areas expected to receive possible thunderstorms and showers until Friday.
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