Residents of the town of Mytishchi near Moscow posted a video of a natural tornado-like phenomenon on social media. In the images, you can see a powerful vortex of dust rising above the ground. The weather at the moment is clear, small clouds are visible.
The weather phenomenon that the people of Mytishchi saw was most likely a` `dusty devil '', a leading expert from the Phobos Weather Center reported on his page Instagram on Instagram . Evgeny Tichkovets. According to him, this phenomenon is rare for central Russia.
& nbsp; When the 'Dusty Devil' appears ?
On the website of the weather center “ Phobos & # 39; & # 39; it is said that the 'dusty devil' (from English & ndash; dust devil), or dusty or sandy whirlpool, & ndash; it is a swirling movement of air that occurs on the surface of the earth. Usually it is formed during the day, in warm, slightly cloudy weather, with strong and uneven heating of the earth's surface by the rays of the sun.
The vortex has a vertical or slightly tilted axis of rotation towards the horizon. Its height varies from 10-20 to 100-150 m, its diameter & nbsp; & ndash; & nbsp; from 1-5 m to 20-40 m. The wind speed inside the vortex is 7-10m/s and above. Usually a dusty devil exists from a few seconds to a minute or two.
In this natural phenomenon, the vortex lifts dust, sand, small stones and various objects from the earth's surface. They can be carried up to a distance of up to several hundred meters. Vortices can be white or yellow on sand, gray, brown and orange on earth or clay soil, and black – on ash or volcanic dust. Sometimes several vortices can form at the same time.
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& nbsp; May the 'dusty devil' ; different from a tornado?
The formation of a tornado or tornado is associated with cumulonimbus clouds. Dusty devils form outside of clouds on a clear day. In addition, dust swirls usually do not lead to destruction or other negative consequences.