Landspout tornado spotted in N.C. and what makes a landspout different from a normal tornado

A landspout tornado was caught on video from North Bay Farms near Columbia, N.C. While typically weaker than tornadoes associated with supercell storms, landspouts can still do damage.

Did you know that there are two types of tornadoes? Tornadoes can be classified as either supercell tornadoes or non-supercell tornadoes. Supercell tornadoes are the most common and destructive and form from rotating thunderstorms known as supercells. Non-supercell tornadoes, such as landspouts, waterspouts and gustnadoes, develop differently and are often less intense.

The tornado spotted in the video above is an example of a landspout. Landspouts form when there is rotation at the surface along a weather boundary where the air is converging (one example would be a sea breeze). As air is pushed up along this boundary, it may start to spin and a landspout is produced.

While landspouts are typically weak and short-lived, they can reach strengths of up to EF-3 on rare occasions. The landspout spotted in North Carolina on May 1 produced no damage.