Confirmed Funnel Cloud on Oregon Coast Wednesday, Photographed Over Cannon Beach

Published 01/09/26 at 1:55 a.m.
By Oregon Coast Beach Connection Staff

(Cannon Beach, Oregon) – Wednesday, to say the least, was an active weather day on the Oregon coast – one that started with a bang, of sorts. Before 8 a.m., a waterspout warning was issued for the offshore area around Cape Meares. That expired after 45 minutes, but it seemed to be a preview of the coming day. (Photo Carol Keljo / I Heart Cannon Beach)

Rain and wind battered the coastline, with breaks in between that sometimes allowed sessions of sunshine. Then about 4 p.m., Cannon Beach's Carol Keljo took a few snaps of her hometown beach and caught something apparently ominous.

In the sky was what appeared to be a funnel cloud – or at least what Keljo thought might've been a waterspout. She caught a photo or two of it and then posted to I (heart) Cannon Beach on Facebook, asking others if this was what she thought it was.

Oregon Coast Beach Connection contacted the National Weather Service (NWS) and asked.

Brian P. Nieuwenhuis, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service's Medford office, confirmed this was indeed a funnel cloud. Whether it is a waterspout is a whole other thing.

Detail from photo by Keljo

“That is definitely a funnel cloud,” told Oregon Coast Beach Connection. “To technically be a waterspout, the circulation has to be touching the surface of the water (which you would see as a swirl of ocean spray). I can't tell if it's doing that from this image. So, possible waterspout, but definite funnel cloud.”

Whatever moody conditions had started early in the day were definitely continuing in the afternoon.

Keljo said she just saw the “trail” in the sky, as she called it. This was about 4 p.m. and it was heading east.

“I just noticed clouds drifting by from my living room,” Keljo told Oregon Coast Beach Connection. “Then I spotted the trail. I kept my eye on it and since it stayed horizontal, I wasn’t as concerned as, perhaps, I should have been. It was such an unsettled weather day anyway. It then seems to dissipate as it traveled closer to the mountains.”

Looking back at Wednesday's data two days later (Friday morning), Tyler Kranz with the Portland office of the NWS said there does appear to be evidence in retrospect.

"I do see signs of weak low level rotation that would be indicative of a funnel cloud," Kranz told Oregon Coast Beach Connection.

As the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) put it: waterspouts fall into two categories. There are fair weather waterspouts and tornadic waterspouts.

“Tornadic waterspouts are tornadoes that form over water, or move from land to water. They have the same characteristics as a land tornado. They are associated with severe thunderstorms, and are often accompanied by high winds and seas, large hail, and frequent dangerous lightning.”

Those were the conditions that were happening Wednesday, with some reporting into Oregon Coast Beach Connection of thunderstorms taking place along the coastline.

Fair weather waterspouts, on the other hand, usually form “along the dark flat base of a line of developing cumulus clouds,” NOAA said. These aren't associated with thunderstorms, and they start on the water and then move their way upwards.

Keljo said it all reminded her of the tornado that hit Manzanita ten years ago.. That one tore up a large swath of town in one, quick run in October of 2016. Dramatic video of that one was caught as it went from waterspout to tornado by going from sea to ground. Video and photos of the twister showed power lines and transformers blow up. See Two Tornadoes on Oregon Coast; Manzanita Severely Damaged, Video

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