A ‘dust devil’ has been filmed in Ahoghill, Co Antrim.
Another was spotted in Kircubbin, Co Down.
Check this out! A dust devil visits Ahoghill in County Antrim today. Footage by Sabrina McNally: pic.twitter.com/EpCj1hlkgC
— Barra Best (@barrabest) June 8, 2018
One down in Kircubbin CoDown pic.twitter.com/qkXhnZLPvr
— Jonny Donnan (@jonny808) June 9, 2018
‘Dust devils’ are whirlwinds, ranging in size with the primary vertical motion being upward. They are usually harmless, but can on rare occasions grow large enough to pose a threat to people and property.
They are comparable to tornadoes in that both are a weather phenomenon involving a vertically oriented rotating column of wind.
Dust devils form when a pocket of hot air near the surface rises quickly through cooler air above it, forming an updraft.
The updraft can begin to rotate. And as the air rapidly rises, the column of hot air is stretched vertically, moving mass closer to the axis of rotation.
This causes intensification of the spinning effect. As more hot air rushes in toward the developing vortex to replace the air that is rising, the spinning effect becomes further intensified.
