ROBERTSON COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) – A landspout, which is a funnel cloud, caused some concern in Robertson County late Thursday afternoon.
News 2 chief meteorologist Danielle Breezy said despite looking suspicious, the cloud, which was captured by several iReport2 members, isn’t necessarily something to be alarmed by. She explained a landspout is formed as two thunderstorms merge and create a swirl on or above the ground. In Thursday’s case, the landspout was above the ground.
Once the swirl gets ingested into the developing thunderstorm above it, it is stretched into a tube-like cloud.
According to Danielle Breezy, most of the time, landspouts are not visible. The reason Thursday’s was is due to moisture in the air.
She said if it would have touched down on the ground, it would be considered a tornado.
She added the reason the landspout was not picked up by radar is because it is formed from the ground up, whereas classic tornadoes are formed from the cloud to the ground.
The county briefly sounded their tornado alarm as a precaution.
(Courtesy: iReport2)