Water Spout Sightings
Entry posted by MonsoonMaiden
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A water spout was spotted off Sentosa's Siloso Beach on 14 Aug, according to an article in the local newspaper, The Straits Times.
In the article, "A Sentosa spokesman said such waterspouts are common but they never occur on the island. 'Usually, they are very far away but can be seen from Sentosa. They don't last long,' he added."
Unfortunately I don't have access to that day's radar pictures (only the last two hours are available online) or we would be able to have a look at the weather system producing the water spout.
The spokesman said waterspouts are common; how often does "common" mean? From past reports, we seem to get about 2-3 sightings per year. In over 10 years of working at the Met. Service, I have only seen "funnel cloud" (FC) reported once on our METAR while I was on duty. Pat encountered an FC once while on shift too, she said the control tower called the office because it looked as if it was approaching them & they were quite alarmed.
On another occasion, D & I were driving over the flyover next to the airport when D suddenly spotted a funnel cloud forming in the distance just in front of us. We stopped the car a little further down, along East Coast Park, to watch. It was a very distinct funnel, snaking downward from the cloud but not reaching the sea surface. It looked quite menacing. It's one thing to watch these on tv or look at photos of them, but I can attest that it was quite eerie to be actually standing there with the water spout not too far away. What if it started moving toward us?
It lasted about 5-10 minutes & then dissipated. Unfortunately we didn't have a camera. 
Well, maybe next time.
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