Wx Savvy | Tornadoes

Dust Devils?

Dust devils are different from tornadoes because they are not associated with a thunderstorm. A tornado develops intense rotation from the dynamics of a thunderstorm. However, a dust devil forms on a hot and sunny day when super hot air near the ground begins to rise into cooler air aloft. The dust devil is a rotating column of air that begins at the surface and rotates upward, as it does swirling the sand and dirt near the surface upward into the sky (1). Dust Devils are being vigorously studied because they exist on Mars, and are much more intense on the big red planet. Because scientists would like to send man to Mars one day, dust devils are being examined for the static electricity they generate and the amount of dust and sand that penetrates the space suit.

http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mgs/msss/camera/images/lpsc2000/3_00_dustdevil/moc2_msss_m1001267.gif

The above is a picture from the Mars Orbiter Camera, and actually caught a dust devil in the act of creating the swirling patterns in the Martian surface. The dust devil does not look like a column because the picture was taken right on top of the whirling dervish, which covers about 1 square mile. (Very large relative to earth dust devils)

(1) Lyons, Walter A. The Handy Weather Answer Book. Visible Ink; 1997.