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© Townsville Bulletin/Samantha Healy
A waterspout formed off the Townsville coast this morning, with at least one or two separate funnel cloud formations also sighted over land. Townsville weather bureau forecaster Andrew Cearns said a waterspout had definitely formed but photographs taken by locals of tornado-like clouds between the airport and Yabulu were harder to confirm.

"Looking at the doppler, there were signs of strong winds moving in two different directions so there was definitely a possibility of rotation (over land)," he said. "The conditions were there. We had a southeast change coming up the coast and low level northerly winds coming in to it." Mr Cearns said the funnel-like clouds sighted over land did not appear to reach the ground.
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© Via twitter@isobelroeWater spout off The Strand.

It's been called everything from a tornado to a funnel cloud and a water spout but whatever it is, it has got Townsville talking. Pictures of the weather phenomena have been posted on social media this morning after rain fell across the city overnight. The Townsville Bulletin contacted the Bureau of Meterology for an official identification but they have not been able to confirm what took place at this stage.

There are no weather warnings for the region at this time but a thunderstorm was earlier predicted with a 70 per cent chance of rain. The radar currently shows storm activity around Giru, Thuringowa, Townsville City, Cape Cleveland and Magnetic Island. At this stage there have been no reports of any damage.