Funnel cloud in Japan
© Screengrab via Daily Mail
An amazing tube-shaped cloud struck awe into witnesses when it was filmed in the sky above Japan.

The tube of pale cloud filmed in the city of Niigata in central Japan's Chubu Region looks only a few inches wide in the clip, snaking down from a sky full of dark grey clouds above, though its apparent size may be an optical illusion.

Japanese media reported that locals who witnessed the tube cloud were 'awe-struck' by the phenomenon.


Japanese media reported that locals who witnessed the tube cloud were 'awe-struck' by the phenomenon.

Over the course of a few seconds it dissipates along its entire length, all the way up to the grey parent cloud thousands of feet overhead.

The phenomenon is believed to be an example of what meteorologists call a funnel cloud.

Funnel clouds are the starting condition for a tornado to form. If the cloud reaches the ground or water, it becomes a tornado.

They are formed when a rotating wind swirls a column of water droplets into the characteristic needle or tube-like shape.