Weather Glossary
- Dust devil
A dust devil is a small and vigorous but usually short-lived whirlwind. You can see it because, as its name suggests, a dust devil picks up dust and debris as it moves across the countryside. Unlike tornadoes, dust devils do not drop from thunderclouds but are caused by intense heating of the ground. Dust devils have an average height of 200 metres and diameters which range from about three metres to 30 metres.
- Date modified: