I’m fairly certain that if the itsy bitsy spider ever tried to climb up this water spout, he would end up miles away somewhere, amongst a rain of other itsy-bitsies. Thanks to The Cellar for some amazing pictures of a water spout that formed off the coast of Singapore the other day. Weaker than most of their land-based counterparts (tornadoes, obviously, and dust devils as well), some say water spouts don’t pose much of a threat (just don’t try to pilot your boat through one) though they do tend inspire onlookers to ponder the awesome power of nature. (Others say that waterspouts are pretty dangerous beasts, and may be responsible for many of the so-called “mysterious” Bermuda Triangle disappearances over the years.) Wind speeds in the columnar vortex of a waterspout (ooh, technical-sounding) can reach 190mph. Photos after the jump!

Water spout off the coast of Florida, 1966:

Stare into the heart of the beast:

One more from Singapore: