You'd be in a world of hurt. They're not as powerful as a mesocyclone tornado, but they're still powerful enough to destroy boats pretty quickly.

There are boat warnings on Ontario/Erie for waterspouts pretty regularly.

most, according to wiki, have winds no stronger then 70 mph. im pretty sure it wouldnt feel great, but im not so sure it would tear me up.

but im smarter then that. id like to try it but.. im smarter then that.

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not smart enough to choose the right homophone between "then" and "than"!

i'd do it. 70 mph isn't that big a deal for a person. it's dangerous for ships because they're bigger and rigid.

40 MPH winds in a waterspout translates to 35 knots. That's gale force wind. 18-25 foot waves.

If you were swimming in that, you'd drown quickly. Even in most small boats, you'd be in trouble.

You realize that 70mph is just under hurricane force winds, right?

you realize we had 65 mph gusts here today and i'm a certified whitewater kayak guide, right?

raft the hudson at 20ft levels.

i'm not saying it is smart, and i used the wrong expression in big a deal, but i think there's more dangerous things.

also wave height is not a product of wind speed, but rather the fetch the wind is traveling across.

edit: and according to what mike said, 70 mph is the maximum for a majority of those. if it's 50 or something, that's a huge difference.

im terrible at grammar, pat. i apologize for it. but it is what it is.

but im reckless. when i worked at wings stadium, we had two tornados, and we needed a spotter on the roof. i begged both times to be the spotter, saying ill sign whatever i have to to absolve them if something goes wrong. i love weather, and id be willing to take a risk. how else do you think i got struck by lightning when i was younger?

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I'm just saying that swimming in open water in localized winds 35MPH and up is very dangerous. They put out small craft advisories at 25 knots in the lakes. A swimmer isn't going to hold up in that.

EDIT: And I trust that you know what you're doing, but being out in the water in close the hurricane force winds in anything other than a very large craft is very dangerous.

and i would never argue that it wasn't dangerous. and you're right, most swimmers won't. i wouldn't do it without a) a life jacket and b) a spotter. i'm a pretty good judge of what i am and am not capable of, as i tend to have similar experiences.

I get that, and I'm not trying to knock your abilities.

I'm just saying that every boating thing I've ever read has said never to navigate into a waterspout because even though it's weaker than a tornado, it can still damage your boat and sink it.

If a boat isn't supposed to be in there, I can't imagine a swimmer stands a chance.

okay, i might have forgotten to mention this. it's actually survival 101 that in winds and storms small boats are much more dangerous than actually being in the water by your body, because of the surface area and shearing forces of the wind. think of it this way- it's easier to hold onto a plank of wood in water than it would be to keep a canoe from tipping or capsizing or blowing into where you do not want to be.

but all in all, it's not a good idea to be out in the middle of a waterspout or try and ignore small craft advisories. you don't mess with mother nature.

Mike, that siren was just obnoxious.

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Check out my website: http://www.artistzero.com

"That wasn't very nice...I do believe you killed my hat."

Driver of the FIRE LINDY RUFF Bandwagon since 2008.

thats our tornado sirens. what kind do you have?

my old house used to have a wind up one near it.... thats even more creepy.

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Do you *always* have your bad idea jeans on? lol

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I've seen plently of 'nados on LO, and you definitely don't want to get stuck in one. They're absolutely amazing to watch, but thats it.

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one of the many events from my undergrad.

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sadly yes.

heres a video of the famous 1980 kalamazoo tornado that hit the heart of downtown. EF3 tornado that killed 5 people literally seconds after they moved inside. whats kinda neat, in a sad way, is i know EXACTLY where this is shot. and for you, raleigh, you can hear a distant tornado siren. its a creepy sound.

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same thing

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Check out my website: http://www.artistzero.com

"That wasn't very nice...I do believe you killed my hat."

Driver of the FIRE LINDY RUFF Bandwagon since 2008.

Ah...yup, ok, we have a tornado siren in raleigh. I still prefer to think of it as a galatic whistle...but whatev