Anyone experienced a Dust devil/Whirly wind? (2 Viewers)

[Pam_m]

I went for a walk around the perimeter path of Bunkers Hill Wood, Stourbridge this afternoon. The paths either side of the woods are quite steep, with a path on one side of the woods being known locally as 'Cardiac hill'. The sun was giving off more heat than I had anticipated making me wish I had sunbathed in the garden instead of climbing a mountain, well it felt like a mountain! On my back down the path on the opposite side of 'Cardiac hill' I came to an open scrub area in amongst the trees and saw what I thought at first were Butterflies..dozens of them fluttering in a small space, falling and then rising into the air again and again. They were leaves!! I could not believe what I was seeing. They settled to the ground after approximately 10-15 seconds. I could not see any movement in the grass/scrub and wondered what on earth I had been seeing. Then it happened again a few feet away from the first area, dried leaves were fluttering about 2-3 feet in the air and as before the leaves after a few seconds settled to the ground again. This happened two more times and again a few feet away from the previous sighting. Another strange thing was that each time the leaves erupted, for want of a better word, they were in a line and not scattered around the scrub area. I can only liken the sight to the Gold & Silver tokens that were blown around in the 'Crystal Dome' in the Crystal Maze programme!
Two ladies walking their dog also witnessed the event and like me were dumbfounded. One of the ladies said it brought to mind Whirly Winds that they have in Australia.

So I googled and came up with Dust Devils and Whirly Winds!
A dust devil is a strong, well-formed, and relatively long-lived whirlwind, ranging from small (half a meter wide and a few meters tall) to large (more than 10 meters wide and more than 1000 meters tall). The primary vertical motion is upward. Dust devils are usually harmless, but rare ones can grow large enough to threaten both people and property.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dust_devil

I doubt I will experience anything like it again, it was jaw dropping, mind boggling and quite surreal to see.
I had a great view of a Chiffchaff afterwards, which was nice!

Has anyone witnessed such a spectacle?

 

[Sancho]

Hi Pam. Twenty-odd years ago I spent a year living in a desert-mountain area of the north of Oman, and "dust-devils" were common. They looked exactly as you describe, except of course were composed not of leaves but of sand, dust and other scrub-debris. They could rise anything up to thirty metres in the air. If I remember correctly, locally they were known as "djinn".

 

[fugl]

Dust devils are common in Nevada also. The most impressive one I ever saw was in our backyard many years ago which plucked the laundry off the clothes line & distributed it over about a quarter-acre. I remember having to send the kids round to the neighbors on both sides to retrieve some of the smaller items which had blown over the fences.

 

[Simon Wates]

Here in southern Portugal, in the steppelands of the Baixo Alentejo we get them fairly often too. I remember a travelling one - the noise was almost frightening and I had to grab my scope on the tripod for fear of it being bowled over as whooshed by us - quite exciting really.

 

[jmepler]

I grew up on a farm in central Pennsylvania, not what you would consider prime dust devil territory, and I would see a dozen or more a year.

I think that dust devils are more common than you might think.

The reason I say that is that I believe many go unseen. If there is no dust or debris to blow around you are not likely to notice, unless it passes directly over you. I had a dust devil clean every bit of hay from a 10-15 foot wide swatch the whole way across the middle of a field. It had passed over the adjacent wheat field, but I didn't notice it until it reached the hay field. There was hay swirling 100 feet in the air. Quite interesting to watch , but a mess to try to bale.

The second reason is that people spend a lot less time outdoors than they used to. I work in an office now, and I rarely see dust devils. I spend a lot of time outdoors birding, but it's not the same as working outside all day long.

Mike

 

[Pam_m]

Many thanks Sancho, fugl, Simon and Mike for your interesting replies!

Several years ago on Tenby beach (Wales) a whirlwind suddenly appeared sending inflatables etc up into the air, it was a sight to see folks scrambling for their belongings when it had passed through, I was one of them.lol!

As you say Mike dust devils are no doubt common and in the main unseen. I tell you what though I will never forget the sight I witnessed, I am just glad it was not a 30 metre one as I reckon I would have passed out in shock.lol!!

Thank you all once again.:t:

 

[Bird Boy]

My wife and I visited some friends one day. The front porch was about 8ft. by 8ft. and enclosed. Because it was in the fall, there were dried dead leaves all over the porch floor. As soon as we knocked, a whirlwind with winds of about 80 mph or so beat us up and swirled us around the porch a few times, bouncing us off the walls. When my friend opened the door, there we stood, a total mess with leaves, not only filling our hair but, many other places as well....He asked, "What the **** happened to you two? I just said, "I'm suing you". :C

 

[MJB]

Hi Pam. Twenty-odd years ago I spent a year living in a desert-mountain area of the north of Oman, and "dust-devils" were common. They looked exactly as you describe, except of course were composed not of leaves but of sand, dust and other scrub-debris. They could rise anything up to thirty metres in the air. If I remember correctly, locally they were known as "djinn".

They were common in the former Aden Protectorate in the 1960s, often somewhat larger than Sancho describes; they were known as 'dust devils', probably a direct translation of 'djinn'. One was implicated in the crash of a Twin Pioneer short-field capable aircraft landing at a small rough airstrip. This aircraft had a landing speed of about 38 knots when all flaps were down; the dust devil formed to one side of the aircraft just as it was about to land.

If the dust devil had been on the other side, the airspeed would have increased, probably blowing the aircraft backwards, but the pilot could have increased throttle and abandoned the landing, but coming in from the other side, the dust devil 'wind' was in the same direction as the aircraft. The airspeed dropped to zero, the aircraft dropped vertically to the ground from about 10 metres, but still travelling forward at about 30 knots groundspeed, but short of the airstrip.

The aircraft folded itself amazingly neatly into a cube, the only casualty being a Bedu suffering a broken ankle as he was flung from the wreckage because he had not strapped in. The pilot had had the presence of mind to switch off the engines and isolate the fuel feeds as soon as he realised he had entered the dust devil, thus avoiding a fire.
MJB

 

[Chris D]

I was north of Reno once at the 'National Championship Air Races'. 100,000 or so people. From the stands you could see a massive 'Dust Devil' comming south (from the northern desert). When it arrived on scene it's center of circulation was smack dab' right over the infield and stands as it travelled the length of the 100,000. The best part was watching it change it's content from dust and sagebrush chunks ---- to hot dog wrappers, beer cans, ketchup squirty thingies, newspapers, and everything else know to man. Being at the southern end of this tempest - one could watch the entire play. Also got nailed with the most goo....

 

[gambirder]

Here's a pic of some >100m tall next to the Niger River near Timbuktu. Very common occurences in the Sahara / Sahel.

At first I found it weird that people in this region really think they are spirit-beings of some kind, and refere to them as 'djinn', 'devils' or similar. But then, I'm sure we too meant "dust devil" literally not so long ago. Goodness knows what they thought of me once jumping into the middle of one and pretending to have a boxing match with it. (And before you ask, no I wasn't.)

 

[Bird Boy]

I think you were...

We had one that took shape as a storm was approaching. It was so large that it stopped traffic and everyone thought it was a tornado.

Anyone been in a tornado? I have been close to five of them.

 

[dantheman]

Interesting that the 'primary vertical motion is upward'. Just wondering which other direction it could take ...

I'm sure I see baby ones of these at least several times a year ... little swirling winds out in the countryside, but obviously not of the magnitude in the article. A couple have been more noticeable however, especially as I've been caught in them!!!

One was only last week down in southern Israel. Was in a wadi near Eliat when I noticed a large swirling plume some distance away. Carried on birding. Suddenly the wind (there had been a light wind) strengthened and veered from the opposite direction. Excellent I thought, the wind's veered round to the south, I'll go down to North Beach and do some seawatching ... as the wind dropped, leaving me and my optics covered in dust and, doh, I suddenly realised it was the 'dust devil' I'd just seen and forgotten about. (It was big, at least 30 feet across or more, but comparitively light winds.)

The previous occasion was maybe 4 years ago in Dartford - was down the allotment when suddenly my T-shirt blew up over my face so I couldn't see properly(!), a piece of carpet on the ground mabe 2 by 3 metres was picked up and spun into the air before landing again, and a smaller but more violent 'twister' passed over me. (I guess it could equally have been a mini-tornado, don't recall the weather conditions now after this time).

 

[Bird Boy]

Interesting that the 'primary vertical motion is upward'. Just wondering which other direction it could take ...

I think that the rising hot air is pulled to the center of the vortex while the desending colder air is, somewhat, tossed out as it comes down. So the rising air is more focused and concentrated.

The hot air is the actual energy driving the thing and the cold air is just heavier, displaced air falling through the void.

The same thing happens when lakes here "turn over" in the winter. The surface water gets colder and heavier than the water below. The warmer water tries to rise until it finally punches through in one place and the same swirling vortex happens. That is just never seen nor ever recorded on video but, there will be debris brought up from the bottom on the surface of the lake..

 

[delia todd]

Pam you've certainly set off a train of reminiscences here haven't you - all great fun.

I'm sure I've seen some but SM's I'm afraid. Your experience sounds quite freaky really.

D

 

[Pam_m]

Wow!! My little leaf fountains pale in significance to the events added to the thread.

Thank you all for posting your fascinating encounters with Dust devils.:t:

Come on Delia get your thinking cap on.lol!!:h?:

 

[Azzy]

I used to love them as a kid and would chase after them. They're mostly pretty small, but occasionally you get a really decent sized ones, and they're simply beautiful to watch.

 

[Pam_m]

Thanks for sharing your experiences Azzy! How exciting that must have been to chase them! You must have an awful lot of Dust devils!

I can still see the fountains of leaves vividly in my mind! A wonderful experience.

 

[Chosun Juan]

Pam,
I too have many memories of "willy willy's" as a kid........although the only 'chasing' was after your hat! :gh: :flyaway: for 50m or so, much to the amusement 3 of all involved, at a game of cricket or bowls - never quite managing to reach your hat (frog halfway to a wall style) before it took off again!
Also, more fondly |^| of 6hr holiday trips through the countryside to nan & pop's, and being the first :king: to spot "willy willy's" out the window |<| |>| , long after 'eye-spy' |8|| had worn out its welcome.....

I also recall pottering around in the paddock one day with a large garden sized black plastic garbage bag.......needless to say it was plucked from my hand by a "willy willy" which seemed to develop out of nowhere right in front of me! |8.| After much chasing and futile jumping (at the just out of reach bag), it took off hundreds and hundreds of metres skyward (o)< where it was intercepted by a rather annoyed wedgie which circled and eyeballed the inflated black intruder until it departed its territory, well out of reach of the view from my 7x bino's! ............ I think I vaguely recall something about a UFO sighting in NZ the next day

I've also been caught out in the paddock in more heavy-duty versions where ~140km/hr winds have swirled and twisted their way along, cutting a short-lived 50m wide swaithe from out of nowhere..............now that's enough to have you believing in all sorts of ne'er-do-well spirits!!



Apparently Oz has ideal topography (just as in the US) for tornadoes, but doesn't see as many due to the drier climate, although it's still in the top half a dozen countries worldwide, and much more common than most folk realise........I think the gnarliest tornado recorded in Oz ranked an F4............whatever.............I've certainly seen the aftermath of some sort of 'mini-tornado' which ripped through here a few years ago - snapping 5ft diameter hardwood trees (and when they say hard-wood trees out here, they mean bloody hard wood...) like they were matchsticks --- gladly missing all nearby homesteads.............kinda makes swirling butterflies a rather magical, fairy-tale moment!

All good! I love to marvel at the beauty and power of nature

Chosun
_________________________________________________________________

For long, long time.............. the earth - she cry....
now, the children - they cry too....
All terribly, terribly sad...
.

 

[Pam_m]

Thank you Chosun for posting of your amazing experiences and for the pics! I now know that a 'wedgie' in Australia is a Wedge-tailed Eagle! In the UK a 'wedgie' has an entirely different meaning...Google it!:eek!:

That 'mini tornado' must have been awesome! I will stick to swirling butterflies thanks!

Enjoy your Dust devils and stay safe!:t:

 

[Bird Boy]

Tornados are a way of life here. It's like having Godzilla come crashing through occasionally. I wrote this poem during an outbreak of over 100 of them one spring. It's called "Tornados and Eggs".

WELL, I WON’T HAVE TO PLUCK THE CHICKEN
AND I SEE THE EGGS HAVE BEEN PRE-SCRAMBLED IN THEIR SHELLS
THE BACON’S SLICED A LITTLE THINNER THAN I’D HAVE DONE IT
BUT, IT’S REALLY FRESH SO WHAT THE HELL

I’M GOING TO MAKE MYSELF A LITTLE BREAKFAST
ON MY NEW ELECTRIC RANGE
WHERE IT CAME FROM, I DON’T HAVE A CLUE
AND THE FACT THAT IT WORKS IS A LITTLE STRANGE.

BUT, THERE’S A TELEPHONE POLE IN MY LIVING ROOM
AND THAT MIGHT EXPLAIN A LOT
MY NEIGHBORS ARE HERE, STILL SITTING IN THEIR BATHTUB
WITH EYES AS BIG AS COFFEE POTS

I REALLY DO HOPE THEY QUIT SCREAMING SOON
SO WE CAN ENJOY THIS LOVELY MEAL
I’M ADDING EARS OF GOLDEN CORN
WHICH HAVE BEEN ARRIVING FROM SOME DISTANT FIELD

THEY’VE BEEN RAINING IN THROUGH MY SPANKING NEW SKYLIGHT
WHILE THE SUN’S BEEN BRIEFLY SHINING DOWN
BUT, NOW IT’S STARTING TO GET DARK AGAIN
AND I’M AFRAID THIS TALE MUST COME TO AN END, MY FRIEND
I HAVE TO GET BACK UNDERGROUND