These storms are not connected to clouds like the regular tornado. The energy for the storm originates from the hot, dry ground interacting with an isolated pocket of rolling air above it, creating a whirlwind cloud of dust. Waterspouts are funnel clouds like tornadoes, except they occur over water. They are common in all equatorial oceans and inland seas. High surface temperatures and humidities are necessary for their formation.
Waterspouts are similar to tornadoes in that they are a part of a cloud system.
The water in the waterspout is from the condensation of water vapor in the air that is being pulled into the updraft within the cloud. Waterspouts can occur in good weather with only small clouds present. They are rather weak storms and rarely cause much damage. Like waterspouts, landspouts form from cumulus congestus clouds, except instead of being over water they are over land. These clouds often aren't associated with thunder or lightning and although they may be producing some rain the storm is not violent.