Mini Tornado

[stripperguy]

Mini tornado actually sounds too dramatic, it was more like a wet dust devil...a water devil?

MDB and I paddled Minerva Stream yesterday, it was a very pleasant day trip, we went just shy of Irishtown, starting from Olmsteadville.
It was a tad breezy in spots, but with such small water, any wind effects were barely noticeable until-- MINI TORNADO!

As I paddled slightly ahead of MDB, I got pushed to the side of the stream quickly and violently by a strong gust, seemingly out of nowhere.
A moment later I hear MDB behind me, hooting and hollering. I thought she was losing her hat in the wind.

No, she wasn't losing her hat.

When I turned to look, she was on her second full spin in the stream, with no hope of controlling her 12 ft Swift. Then she get pushed to the side, and starts to take water over the gunnel! Not from rolling the boat, but from wind pushed water. MDB compared it to when we sail close hauled, with waves flooding over the deck into the cockpit.

In a moment her exciting ride was over, and I watched the swirling winds pass behind her and start twisting of the grasses in the marsh behind her.
And then it was over.

All of this on a section of the stream that was no more than 30 or 40 ft wide.

She says "Well, that was a new one!" And comments that it was kinda fun, but if that happened in the middle of some big water, it would have gotten really serious very quickly. It was certainly a new experience for me too, although I didn't get the full ride.
The whole event was maybe 45 seconds, but I'm sure we'll both remember it for quite a while to come.

[rickhart]

I had a similar, though less dangerous, event on the Moose River in northern Maine, several years ago. It was a warm, sunny, still day; no wind to speak of. The river in that stretch had high banks, backed by an open area with trees a good way back. I started to hear an odd hissing sound. Over the bank came a small but quite energetic whirlwind/dust devil which moved slowly out a few feet ahead of me. I don't think it was more than 6 inches wide or at most a foot. As it moved over the water it turned into a water spout. After several minutes it moved over the opposite bank and away.

It wasn't really frightening, but quite creepy.

[Jack]

It was a dead calm warm spring afternoon on Upper Sargent. I was sitting on the shore just enjoying the day when out of nowhere a water spout formed , it gained height as it moved to another shore where 2 friends were camped. I would say it got around 50 - 60 feet high and maybe 6 feet wide at the top. It blew right into my friends then dispersed, I heard some hoots and laughing then it was all over. Good times and memories…….

[Zach]

It sounds like one of those could be pretty alarming. I'm glad you were in a relatively safe place when it came by. I guess it's like being hit by a falling tree, unlikely but always possible out in the woods.