The featured picture was captured by the webcam on the ISU Ag Farm just south and west of Ames on Thursday. This landspout was reported to have briefly touched down, but no damage has been found at the time of this writing. This storm prompted a tornado warning for Ames that lead many to discover that Ames has talking sirens now! These landspouts are formed when a strong updraft stretches an area of spin into a smaller area, which increases the rate of spin. Check out the recent news item with a link to the YouTube lapse of this event.

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Tags:   webcam   landspout