I will post 3 photos here, sent to me by a Singaporean, showing tornado occurring in Florida Penang.
Although I am was a Penangite, I have never seen a tornado in Penang.
I suppose tornado can form in any area when there is pressure differentials . But I can hardly believe my eyes when I saw the photos. I asked myself: is this true? Can it really happen? Is someone playing tricks on me? Especially when there is no mention of such tornado in any mainstream media reports as well as internet portals such as Malaysiakini .
Here are the pictures: (any comments from Penang people?)
Follow-up link:
Shit holes. This occurred in Singapore.
By: CHIPPY CHIP on August 26, 2007
at 12:00 am
Darren, The ones in your photos looked rather fierce, but yes, I have seen these water sprouts before, though to south of the Island. There’s latent energy in water which feeds the sprouts’ activity.
By: KTemoc on August 26, 2007
at 12:37 am
That’s a water sprout. Not a tornado. Not uncommon near beaches with strong turbulent winds. These winds carry the water upwards and form a mini water tornado. Once it reaches land it dissolves as there is no more water.
These phenomenon are still being studied and the actual nature of it is still not very clear.
By: theshi on August 26, 2007
at 12:44 am
Maybe that is just a unique cloud structure you know…
By: Sagaladoola on August 26, 2007
at 1:32 am
If these photographs are recent, then it has definitely occurred before. I saw it with my own eyes, some years ago, over the straits between Penang Island and Prai/ Butterworth.
The wind speed is of course nowhere near the highly dangerous tornadoes which occur in the US , which can exceed 400 km/h.
A violently rotating wind of 60 -120 km/h, over water (hence damp air) is already enough to produce the waterspout phenomenon in the picture.
By: kittykat46 on August 26, 2007
at 1:41 am
By the way, where do you think is this place? Which part of Penang I mean.
By: hsudarren on August 26, 2007
at 8:00 am
[...] Tornado in Penang ? I will post 3 photos here, sent to me by a Singaporean, showing tornado occurring in Florida Penang. Although I am was […] [...]
By: Top Posts « WordPress.com on August 26, 2007
at 9:27 am
What the…, that place looks like East Coast Park in Singapore.
By: theplaidnightmare on August 26, 2007
at 12:20 pm
Looks more like Sentosa Island to me
By: Jan on August 26, 2007
at 2:07 pm
Is this in Penang or S’pore? I am confused. I am not from Penang but I love that place. If it’s in Penang, it looks like Gurney Drive.
By: lovedeniseh on August 26, 2007
at 5:16 pm
The photographs are definitely Singapore. There is no seaside park in Penang that looks like what’s shown in the picture.
And if you look at the original large photo, there are many large ships anchored in the sea. There are never so many large ships in Penang port.
By: kittykat46 on August 26, 2007
at 10:18 pm
kittykat46, I think you are right. I also cannot make out which part of Penang. Anyway, one reader has sent me a video taken in East Coast PArk Singapore. You can view it in the latest post that I posted today. It showed the same tornado and the same location as the photos.
By: hsudarren on August 26, 2007
at 10:52 pm
it’s that penang!
By: eurene on October 27, 2007
at 12:03 am
I live in Key West, FL and the water spouts are common here. they spring up from time to time from April to November, but are mostly form around Summer after noon thunderstorms that starts in may to August, but seen them in April, September, October also, but not as much.
it makes one curious and stare at them, but remember they are just as dangerous once they hit land.
last summer one formed out in the water and went on land and destroyes some navy roofs on couple of hangers, no one was hurt.
By: Faye on February 26, 2009
at 3:31 am
Does not looked like Penang. But I can ensure you that I withnessed the water sprout at Bayan Lepas of Penang island south east corner similar to this one in 2004. Many of my friends did too.
My neighbour told me that similar water sprout occurred in Tanjung Bungah in Penang in 2006, while I was at work in the office. She too witnessed the event personally.
But from these pictures, it does not look very dangerous. You can see a speed boat right at the foot of the water sprout !!
By: Vins on March 12, 2009
at 4:55 pm
I lived in Penang for three years. I saw some very violent storms there, but I never witnessed a water spout or a tornado. While I am sure that it could happen in Penang, I have to agree that this photo looks more like Singapore. I’m sure tornadoes are rare there as well.
By: Sam on June 18, 2009
at 1:48 am
If said this place is penang, that really first to see that. is amazing. great! First Tornado in penang.
By: sam on August 3, 2009
at 8:46 pm