A dust of devil...

1 year ago
3

A dust devil is a strong, well-formed, and relatively short-lived whirlwind, ranging from small (half a meter (1.6 ft.) wide and a few meters (feet) tall) to large (more than 10 m (32 ft.) wide and more than 1 km (3,280 ft.) tall). The primary vertical motion is upward. Dust devils are usually harmless, but can on rare occasions grow large enough to pose a threat to both people and property.⁠

They are comparable to tornadoes in that both are weather phenomena involving a vertically oriented rotating column of wind. Most tornadoes are associated with a larger parent circulation, the mesocyclone on the back of a supercell thunderstorm. Dust devils form as a swirling updraft under sunny conditions during fair weather, rarely coming close to the intensity of a tornado.⁠

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