Tornado Video of the Day: “Dust Devil near Salem, Oregon on 2010-08-05”

This is a pretty cool video that also gives me a chance to explain these very cool phenomena.

Dust Devil:
These form when instability hot air rises quickly through a small pocket of cool air above it. The air begins to spin and – because hot air rises – the rising air is stretched out. As the rising air is stretched, it thins and moves closer together.

The rising column of air pulls more hot air into it. As the hot air rises, it cools, moves outward and descends. The eventuality is a self-sustaining rotating column of air!



Author of the article:


Nick Lilja

Nick is former television meteorologist with stints in Amarillo and Hattiesburg. During his time in Hattiesburg, he was also an adjunct professor at the University of Southern Mississippi. He is a graduate of both Oregon State and Syracuse University that now calls Houston home. Now that he is retired from TV, he maintains this blog in his spare time.