When forecasters said a week ago that conditions were right for a waterspout outbreak over the Great Lakes, they didn’t know just how high those numbers would soar.

Between Oct. 21 and Oct. 26, there were 89 reported waterspouts spotted over the Great Lakes. This tally includes a rare “sextuplet” formation of six funnels spinning up over Lake Erie. It also includes one day that had an eyebrow-raising 34 waterspouts reported.

Most of last week’s waterspouts happened over Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, according to the Toronto-based International Centre for Waterspout Research.

Of the 89 funnels spotted, only one moved on shore.

Why the waterspout outbreak? The weather conditions last week were perfect for these quick-spinning funnels. They occur when colder air blows over the comparative

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