Rare sighting of a waterspout in County Kerry

“People were running towards the pier yelling ‘look at that, look at that.

A photographer and her family enjoyed a rare sight while traveling from County Kerry to Connemara in County Galway.

A waterspout formed as they waited for a ferry at the Tarbert Ferry terminal in County Kerry on Thursday.

“It was fascinating,” said Gloria Jean Keller.

“This is the first time I’ve seen something like this.

“I am a photographer and I always have my camera with me.”

Ms. Keller continued: “I was waiting for the ferry with my son and my husband and I saw something coming down from the sky.

“I had to go see what it was.”

What is a waterspout?

Waterspouts are tornadoes that form over water and occur when the weather is very rainy.

They are narrow, rotating columns of air that reach the ground from huge rain clouds: cumulonimbus.

As they develop, funnel-shaped clouds sometimes spread from the cloud base and only when these funnel-shaped clouds touch the ground or sea does a tornado or waterspout occur.