Funnel Cloud, Essex
- When
- May 25, 12:40 PM EST to 12:45 PM EST
- Where
- Essex County, Rockport
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 42.639, -70.868 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Funnel Cloud and Waterspout in Massachusetts, May 25, 2000
An isolated thunderstorm produced a funnel cloud over Rockport, which then moved out over Ipswich Bay and briefly touched down to the water. The touchdown only lasted for a few seconds, and was caught on video by a storm spotter.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 2
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS BOX wrote it up.
An isolated thunderstorm produced a funnel cloud over Rockport, which then moved out over Ipswich Bay and briefly touched down to the water. The touchdown only lasted for a few seconds, and was caught on video by a storm spotter. There was no damage reported.
The radar
The Boston radar (KBOX), 79 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 17:40 UTC.
Event by event
1 funnel cloud, 1 waterspout. Local standard time, as filed.
Waterspout, Essex
- When
- May 25, 12:45 PM EST
- Where
- Essex County, Rockport
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 42.639, -70.868 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
What these are
- Funnel Cloud
- A rotating column of cloud extending from a thunderstorm that did not reach the ground.
- Waterspout
- A tornado over water. One that moves ashore is filed as a tornado from the coastline on.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Oklahoma, May 25 to 26, 2000
- Tornado and Flash Flooding in Texas, May 25 to 26, 2000
- Hail in South Carolina, May 25, 2000
- Tornado and Flash Flood in Texas, May 25, 2000
- Hail in North Carolina, May 25, 2000
- Tornado and Hail in South Carolina, May 25, 2000
- Hail in South Carolina, May 25, 2000
- Tornado in Utah, May 25, 2000
- Damaging Wind in North Carolina, May 25, 2000
- Hail and Damaging Winds in North Carolina, May 25, 2000
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Georgia, May 25, 2000
- Damaging Winds in Texas, May 25, 2000
More
Every storm in Massachusetts in 2000Every state in 2000This day in weather historyWarnings in Massachusetts, May 2000
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5150514, 5150513.