While waterspouts are relatively common in the seas off Estonia, they are much rarer on lakes, even large ones like Peipus, weather researcher Sven-Erik Enno said.

As a popular summer vacation destination, Lake Peipus had plenty of visitors on hand to witness the spectacle.

"It started looking like a thunderstorm was coming, and we thought we'd better go for a quick swim. Then we spotted the waterspout. At first we thought it was just a cloud, but then it started rotating. Soon there was very heavy rain, and we ran inside. There was also an extremely intense hailstorm, with hailstones about three to four centimeters across," Alice Laas, one of those who filmed the waterspout, told "Aktuaalne kaamera."

Another witness, Danil Korepanov, also captured the waterspout on camera.

"We had gone for an evening walk with the children to watch the thunderstorm near Alajõe, on the shore of Lake Peipus. Once we reached the beach, we saw these beautiful clouds with lightning flashes everywhere. Then we noticed a vortex beginning to form up. It was very, very beautiful," Korepanov recounted.

"There are certain atmospheric and water surface conditions that promote their formation. First, the sea has to be relatively warm, as it is by midsummer. Then the air mass above it needs to be cold, as it has been over the past few days. It's even better if there's also a low-pressure system along with towering rain clouds and thunderstorms. All of those conditions have been present over the last few days," Enno said.

"Only a very small proportion of waterspouts reach the shore and continue moving over land to any extent. Usually that doesn't happen. They generally remain offshore, and if they don't encounter any vessels or boats, they don't cause any direct damage while swirling over the water," Enno explained.

Despite appearances, waterspouts do not suck up water, though the high wind speeds they bring can present a hazard to small boats. They usually emerge in moisture-laden environments and when their parent clouds are in the process of development, or in thunderstorm conditions.

Korepanov, a fisherman, had previously captured a waterspout on camera while fishing off the Baltic Sea coast of Sillamäe. That waterspout actually made landfall, he said.

The "Aktuaalne kaamera" segment featuring the waterspout clips is below.

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