Watch: Water flows upwards defying gravity in Faroe Islands
Waves collided with the high cliffs and was seen flowing upwards.
Earth's natural landscape is full of bewildering scientific mysteries and a video of a column of water flowing upwards has left people astonished. In a rare moment, Samy Jacobsen and his sister Helen Wang noticed a thin column of water whirling along Beinisvørð, the highest sea cliff in Suðuroy, Faroe Islands. Upon close observation, the duo realised that the twirling water column was moving upwards, defying gravity.
Jacobsen filmed the incident, showing the jet spray of water climbing up the 470-meter cliff in a rare phenomenon called 'water sprout'. The combination of the crashing waves and the wind hitting the side of the cliff causes the phenomenon, according to experts.
Watch the video here:
"I saw something being blown up into the air from that area before but I have never investigated it though. In the vicinity, there are many small rivers that defy gravity in stormy conditions and an awful lot of seawater is blown up and travels pretty far upland," the 41-year-old man told Daily Star.
Greg Dewhurst, a senior operational meteorologist, described the phenomenon as "spectacular". Taking to Yahoo News, UK, he said, "To us here in the operations centre, it looks like a water spout (a spiraling pillar of air), which is a little like a tornado but it forms over the water." "The cliff edge is helping to spin the wind around and we think this is why it forms quite quickly,” he said, explaining the occurrence.
People were blown away by the natural phenomenon and most dubbed it as 'incredible' and 'fascinating'. Others came up with funny reactions, describing the phenomenon as 'cliffnado' and 'white dragon'. Sample these:
Beautiful 🤩
— Λέζλη (@tigerlilivoss) January 10, 2020
White Dragon ！
— おたかさん 311以降国に怒る毎日 (@motialtjin) January 10, 2020
Water droplets trace air flowing up a cliff. So beautiful! https://t.co/AgvGGm6Qyz
— Denis Gilbert (@dgscientifik) January 9, 2020
Waterspouts Happen all over the place. They are caused by the difference in temperature of the water/air.
But this one that appears to be caused by interaction with a concave cliff face is extraordinary.— Andrew Freiden (@AndrewNBC12) January 9, 2020
That’s just magical, thanks for sharing the beauty magic of nature 👌👌
— Marduk (@Marduk30392426) January 9, 2020
Wow! Likely mechanical upslope vortex stretching! https://t.co/xUSdUAqHCl
— Simon Brewer (@SimonStormRider) January 9, 2020
Cliffnado.
— HurricaneWX (@hurricane_wx) January 8, 2020
This is an upside down tornado?
— Jon Zweig (@paniolokine) January 8, 2020
Wow! That's awesome. I love videos of stuff like this. Nature is so awesome. Incredibly powerful too.
— MAGA Trump2020 ⭐ Libby Jo (@ElizabethJo81) January 8, 2020
Fascinating!
— Peggy J Flory (@PeggyFlory) January 8, 2020
This is totally AWESOME!!!
— Corporate Media Watchdog (@beauxtx1) January 8, 2020
What a unique geological environment that would allow both upward displacement of air by the waves and limited space to travel by the cliffs. I can’t say I’ve seen it anywhere else. Very cool.
— Aryn P (@n2antarctic) January 8, 2020
Woah. There be wizards. https://t.co/Hw5auoMnRt
— Collette Byrne (@Lettie_Loo) January 8, 2020
The Faroe Islands, a self-governing archipelago in Denmark, comprises of 18 rocky, volcanic islands between Iceland and Norway in the North Atlantic Ocean. It is a popular tourist hotspot for nature lovers.
