A waterspout appeared off the coast of Sai Kung during an amber rainstorm warning – or did it? UPDATED.

^{Photo: HKO}

UPDATED: The Hong Kong Observatory has clarified that a viral image appearing to show a waterspout off the coast of Sai Kung on Monday morning was most likely just a raindrop captured up close by the camera lens. The Observatory later stated that the image did not display the characteristic features of a waterspout and that corresponding radar imagery did not support such a formation. The most probable explanation, according to the forecaster, is that the camera lens captured a close-range raindrop, creating the illusion of a distant column of water.

The Observatory issued an amber rainstorm warning at 10:00 am this morning (30/3), which was cancelled at 11:00 am. During the amber rainstorm, a waterspout appeared off the coast of Sai Kung.

According to real-time photos released by the Observatory, the waterspout can be seen off the coast of Sai Kung Marine Police East Station. The photos show a dramatic change in sky colour, with the waterspout towering into the sky.

Waterspouts are intense, rotating columns of air—vortices—that form over water, typically caused by warm, moisture-laden air rising from the water surface to meet colder, dry air above. This collision, often under developing cumulus clouds, causes spinning which pulls water upward, creating a visible vortex that connects the water to the clouds.

In Hong Kong, waterspouts are most commonly seen during the rainy season between May and October. From 1959 to 2017, there were a total of 35 cases of waterspouts sighted in Hong Kong.