Tornado sweeps across Venice Italy

Italy has had it rough lately. The "weird" earthquake in their northern districts has damaged many industries and cost the nation millions. The emotional toll of structures that have stood for almost a thousand years crumbling before their eyes and blowing away as dust in the wind has been heart-wrenching. The economy is sinking rapidly and may also need to be bailed out after Spain. Now this:

A tornado swept across Venetian roofs this morning. Amateur video caught it. Here is a still from the video, located at the UK Telegraph. "Amateur footage has captured a tornado-like whirlwind sweeping across Venice, ripping up trees and scaring local inhabitants along the way."

The Telegraph reported, "The tornado roared through Sant'Erasmo island in Venice's lagoon on Tuesday, ripping the roofs off at least 12 buildings, media reports said.A funnel cloud was clearly visible from the centre of the town and from its canals, Youreporter and Venice Municipality video showed.The tornado caused major damage in several islands off the Venice lagoon, including Sant'Elena and Certosa islands, where many trees were uprooted, reports said.Dozens of small sailing ships were smashed in the port of Sant'Elena.No injuries were reported, the Municipality of Venice said."

A Wikipedia article lists European tornado outbreaks. In the 20th and 21st century in Italy there have been 5. Five. 1930, 1965, 1970, 2008, 2009. Now one in 2012. The article lists four between 1000 and 1899. Then the three in the 20th century and the three in the last couple of years. Not wanting to put too much stock in one article, you notice the progression though. A few in one thousand years, three a few decades apart and now four in rapid succession.

Tornadoes are not unknown in Europe. The UK actually leads Europe in tornadic incidents, having on average 33 per year. This is a far cry from the US average of 1400 per year however. And though tornadoes are not unknown in Italy, they are rare. And when they do occur in Europe, they are not muscular like the US tornadoes, but cause little to no loss of life and low amounts of property damage, according to this article.

So that is some weather news for you, and a bit of context. A tornado in Venice Italy. You never know what each day will bring.