EDISTO BEACH, S.C. - An NBC Augusta 26 News viewer on vacation in Edisto Beach sent in video of a waterspout that occurred Thursday morning.
In the video you can see the well developed waterspout spinning over the Atlantic Ocean.
A waterspout is essentially like a tornado over water. Waterspouts occur frequently along the Florida coast, and sometimes off the Georgia and Carolina coasts. Occasionally, they move inland and become tornadoes, causing damage.
Waterspouts are more common than tornadoes because the flat surface of the ocean water offers little resistance to the rotation of air that causes the waterspout.
The Edisto Beach waterspout was caused by an area of low pressure over the Southeast that brought heavy rain to parts of Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, Florida, and North Carolina on Thursday.
