12.06.12
New Zealand Tornadoes, Italian Waterspouts
Two tornadoes struck the northern side of the North Island of New Zealand today, sadly killing three people in the Auckland suburb of Hobsonville and leaving many others homeless.
Check out these news articles for details, photos, and videos:
- The New Zealand Herald: Three dead after Auckland storm and tornadoes
- Stuff: Twisters pummel Auckland, Rotorua
- MetService Blog: Latest information on North Island thunderstorms 6 December 2012
- TV New Zealand: Tornado hits west Auckland (video)
That last link is a video someone took out their window as the tornado passed–definitely not the safest thing to do! If a tornado is moving through your neighborhood, you should find shelter, if not underground then in a small interior room. Above all else stay away from windows; fortunately the videographer did not appear to have sustained any injuries.
On the other side of the world, a beautiful waterspout touched down off the northwestern coast of Italy.
- RAI TV video clip (waterspout shows up about 25 seconds in)
- Photo (Facebook link)
- Another photo (Facebook link)
This waterspout reminded me of a recent Italian tornado (The Weather Channel video link) and waterspout earlier this week (YouTube link) as well as amazing video of an Australian waterspout last month (Facebook link).
Update: The New Zealand tornado event has since been surveyed and determined to more likely have been a microburst. A MetService blog about the event may be found here: Hobsonville wind storm Thursday 6 December 2012.