What is a waterspout? Here's how the spectacular one in Florida formed

Thunderstorms just off the coast of Destin, Fla., produced a large waterspout on Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service. (Cory Lutz via Storyful)

Thunderstorms helped produce a massive waterspout off the coast of Destin, Fla., on Tuesday, wowing people who saw video of the cool-looking weather phenomenon.

If you’ve never seen a waterspout before, you might think it’s a tornado happening over water instead of land – and that’s pretty much what is going on.

How waterspouts form