Belgian meteorologists have confirmed that the extreme weather seen on Monday evening North of Antwerp was a tornado, a relatively uncommon experience in Belgium.
Several social media users on Monday evening reported seeing a tornado, with video evidence to prove it.
?️ Bijzondere beelden net over de grens in België, waar een #tornado vanavond de grond raakte! Er is lokaal flink wat schade veroorzaakt. Let ook op de fraaie "ingedraaide" wolkenbasis (wallcloud) boven de slurf.. Video-credits: Ilse Antonis (Ekeren, Antwerpen)@weermanreinier pic.twitter.com/QNHNE5ZoLB
— Wouter van Bernebeek (@StormchaserNL) October 5, 2020
Weather specialist Martijn Peters confirmed to HLN that this weather was indeed a tornado, and an example of a "wall cloud in a supercell".
"A wall cloud is created where the air in the thunderstorm is sucked up. The air cools quickly and condenses quickly, causing clouds to form even at lower altitudes. Part of the cloud therefore hangs lower than the rest, as it were, what is then called the wall cloud," he explained.
The Royal Meteorological Institute (RMI) also confirmed the news through radar image analysis of wind rotation. "Fortunately, this does not happen very often in Belgium, and certainly not in the autumn period", explained Peters.
Across Belgium, intense weather was recorded in Flanders, with heavy rain and storms across the region. A yellow warning had also been issued by the RMI for wind and also for thunderstorms which all but avoided the centre of the country.
The Brussels Times
