‘Tornado timeout’: Video shows dust devil whipping up during children’s baseball game

Mike Weaver was watching his son, Aiden, play with his fellow Libertyville Wildcats in the a Memorial Day tournament Saturday when out of the blue, with not a gust of wind in the air, a dust devil formed.Show more

Dust devils are kind of notorious around baseball fields, perhaps because of how hot they get — especially when they’re surrounded by parking lots.

Dust devils form on very hot days when the air near the ground heats up rapidly — much faster than the air a dozen or so feet above the ground. The temperature difference makes the air unstable, because hot air rises and cooler air sinks. A dust devil is a tiny little low pressure system that forms because of the instability.

the dust devil lasted about two minutes, which is typical. They’re small in size and in duration.

And to all the weather folks out there criticizing Weaver for calling it a tornado when you hear him say “tornado timeout” in the video: He knew it wasn’t a tornado. He was just making a joke.