A funnel cloud was spotted in the Yukon River valley during Friday's stormy afternoon.

Jack Cardinal was driving south from Carmacks at approximately 5:10 p.m. when he saw the cloud in the valley looking toward Whitehorse. He was near Mile 15 on the Mayo Road.

Cardinal said today he initially thought the cloud was smoke, but then realized it was going straight up into the sky.

Being originally from the Prairies, he knew it was likely a V-shaped vortex, probably a funnel cloud or tornado, and managed to pull his car over to watch it.

Cardinal estimates that he was about 9.6 km away from the cloud and stood taking photos of it for about six minutes before it disappeared.

'It was bigger than just a dust devil,' he said.

The base of the cloud was likely at least 500 metres wide, Cardinal guessed, based on its size and the distance he was viewing it from. He said the cloud was moving northward, following a dark cloud line and rain band in the sky.

Bill Miller, a meteorologist with Environment Canada in Whitehorse, said today the cloud did not cause any value damage and it's believed it never touched the ground.

The difference between a tornado and a funnel cloud is that a tornado will touch the ground, he said. This cloud just wasn't strong enough to do that, he said.

Funnel clouds are very uncommon in the Yukon, Miller said, adding that he has heard almost no reports of the clouds during his time in the territory.

It doesn't mean that the clouds don't occur, he said; it's just an acknowledgment of the geographic size and the small population in the Yukon.

Funnel clouds that do occur likely go unseen for the most part, he said.

'It just happened to be saw,' he added about Cardinal's sighting.

It is atmospheric instability that creates funnel clouds, said Miller. Friday's air mass was stable, warm and moist, he added.

In some circumstances, this will create rain showers followed by thunderstorms, but if there is enough instability, funnel clouds can sometimes occur, he explained.

Environment Canada only received the one call from Cardinal regarding the sighting.