The outbreak took place from Sept. 28 to Oct. 4.
The ICWR says "we have confirmed an unbelievable 232 waterspouts / funnels during this period. This breaks the old record of 88 spouts that took place from August 16-18, 2020."
According to the ICWR the events were reported over every Great Lake with the majority over Lake Erie.
World Record Waterspout Outbreak! We have confirmed that 232 waterspouts / funnels developed over the Great Lakes from Sept 28 to Oct 4! Details at https://t.co/vPDQst8PRP @weathernetwork @weatherchannel #ONStorm #onwx @NWSBUFFALO @NWSCLE @NWSDetroit @NWSMilwaukee @NWSGrandRapids pic.twitter.com/uHQz3qkLql
โ ICWR (@ICWR) October 5, 2020
The ICWR says there are a number of reasons for the historic event including, "a continual flow of arctic air over the relatively warm waters of the Great Lakes (meteorologists call this, "A pipeline to the Arctic") causing instability and ideal conditions for waterspout development."
There was also a one day record of 82 waterspouts on October first, says the ICWR.
Comment: Related: Dozens of waterspouts spotted over Great Lakes in Ontario this week, with at least 29 on Wednesday alone