Passersby delighted by tornado at Freedom Square |05 April 2023

The tornado observed at the Freedom Square field yesterday

A tornado known as ‘laponp’ in creole, was observed at the Freedom Square field yesterday afternoon.

In the videos shared with Seychelles NATION, a whirling column of air and water mist was observed across the field, much to the delight and surprise of passersby.

Seychelles Meteorological Authority (SMA) chief executive Vincent Amelie told Seychelles NATION yesterday: “At sea we call it waterspout and we occasionally have it in Seychelles. On land, it is called tornado and it is most violent. It is a meteorological feature associated or attached to very active cloud systems. We very rarely experience tornado in Seychelles and if my hypothesis is correct then it means we have some very active or thunder clouds in the vicinity, although not giving rain. Climate is changing.”

A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud.

As for waterspout, despite its name it is not filled with water from the ocean or lake. It descends from a cumulus cloud and does not "spout" from the water.

The water inside a waterspout is formed by condensation in the cloud.

Patsy Canaya