I had to do an exchange at the mall downtown today and wound up strolling around for a while enjoying the fresh air and people watching (and got a couple of new tops, too).

The weather turned overcast and it started to rain a little, so I hurried back to my car which was parked at the top of the back parking deck. I drove down and around to the main road that I usually take home and noticed that the sky had suddenly turned a strange color…

…and over the Waikiki harbor I saw what were unmistakably two waterspouts stretching all the way from the water to the clouds.

Not knowing for sure if waterspouts come on shore, I turned my happy self around and went back into the (lowest level) of the parking deck to wait it out. At one point a huge bolt of lightening hit so close that it knocked out the radio signal to my car for about 30 seconds. Wild!

I have found it on the news if you want to see a video. The spouts crossed paths and twirled around each other apparently. After about 25 minutes they were gone and the sky cleared long enough for me to drive home. It’s just started up a terrific storm again with plenty of lightening. Needless to say I’m now going to turn off this computer and hunker down to watch it. Probably with cocoa.

[update]
After a little research, I have discovered that what I saw were tornadic waterspouts, usually associated with strong storms, hail and lots of lightening. They can come on shore and do damage though it isn’t common; the tornadic ones are more likely to do so, though, so kudos to me for getting back under cover. I do have survival instincts! Heh. Anyway, the usual ones are “fair weather” waterspouts, forming in clear skies and being very weak; if hey come on land, they dissipate almost immediately. Soooo now I’ve learned something. And now I’m going to turn off the computer. I just wanted the info first. ^_^