An Environment Canada alert advising that weather conditions are "favourable for the development of funnel clouds" in Windsor-Essex and Chatham-Kent has ended, but not before people reported seeing them in the sky.

A special weather advisory was issued Tuesday just after 1:30 p.m. ET, alerting residents that landspout tornadoes can be strong enough to topple trees, damage roofs and send debris flying across short distances.

The alert was called down about three hours later. During that time, multiple people reported sightings.

"These types of funnel clouds are generated by weak rotation under rapidly growing clouds or weak thunderstorms," the weather authority said in a statement Tuesday afternoon.

Landspout tornadoes form from a ground circulation getting sucked up into a storm.