LISTEN: Tornado or landspout? SAWS explains the difference
A landspout is what residents of Inanda and Phoenix witnessed on Tuesday afternoon amid heavy downpours.
This is according to the South African Weather Service.
It says it's been doing an in-depth analysis of the weather activity in north Durban following reports of a tornado swirling through.
READ: Damaging wind in Durban was 'landspout event' - SAWS
The weather service says that while landspouts and tornadoes manifest as dark spinning vortexes, their formatives processes differ.
It says while a tornado requires what is known as a parent thunderstorm, a landspout can form simply by the interaction of two low-level airmasses moving in opposite directions.
The Weather Service has given us a breakdown of the differences between a tornado and a landspout, which residents in Inanda, north of Durban witnessed.
ALSO READ: Death toll from Durban storm climbs to 4
It's confirmed the weather phenomenon which ripped through homes at Dube Village was not a tornado.
Forecaster Wisman Dlamini says twisters cause extensive damage compared to landspouts with more than 100km/h wind gusts per hour.
Listen below:
