Waterspout sighted on Narragansett Bay

By Globe Staff

A waterspout twisted its way across Narragansett Bay today, another example of the wild weather people have experienced this summer in New England.

Witnesses, including a trained National Weather Service spotter, saw the waterspout, with one putting it south of Prudence Island, R.I.

Rhode Island's port security system cameras, which have been placed around the bay to watch the Port of Providence, captured images of the weird sight, said Patrick Hay, operations supervisor for Smiths Detection -- LiveWave, which runs the system for the state.

The pictures were captured around 4:03 p.m., said Gail Mastrati, a spokeswoman for the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management.

Some thunderstorms crashed through the state today; and there may be stronger ones tomorrow, the National Weather Service has said.

The wild weather this summer has included an unusually high number of thunderstorms that have lashed Massachusetts with heavy rain, high winds, lightning, and hail; a July 24 tornado killed one person in New Hampshire; and a July 23 tornado began in Narragansett Bay and then crossed into Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts.

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