With it feeling like summer outside, dust devils are starting to appear all around the province.
A larger dust devil was caught on video by Alisa Wurz just east of Didsbury on the weekend, luckily, nobody was harmed.
@air106.1fm A large dust devil is seen east of Didsbury. #airdrie #alberta #fyp #fypシ゚ ♬ Serious documentary music(1175570) - Art Music Style
According to Natalie Hazel, a warning preparedness meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada, explained that while most of the time dust devils are weak and short-lived, some can be strong and cause damage.
"We have seen reports mainly in the States, but I think it's happened here as well, where a dust devil did produce damage. They were strong enough to produce winds of 120 kilometres an hour."
She explained they have had a few reports of dust devils ripping off shingles and siding or even destroying sheds.
"On occasion, they can be strong enough to cause injury and cause damage, sometimes worse than injury. Typically, the larger the dust devil, the more intense it is."
According to www.weather.gov, dust devils form in areas of strong surface heating, usually at the interface between different surface types, such as asphalt and dirt, or even irrigated fields and dirt roads.
"Typically, they occur under clear skies and light winds, when the ground can warm the air to temperatures well above the temperatures just above the ground. If the temperature of the ground becomes much warmer than the air above it, vertical mixing will take place to release this unstable configuration. Once the ground heats up enough, a localized pocket of air will quickly rise through the cooler air above it."
Air speeds horizontally inward to the bottom of the freshly formed vortex due to the abrupt uprush of hot air.
"This rapidly rising pocket of air may begin to rotate, and if it continues to be stretched in the vertical direction, it will increase in rotation speed."
Environment and Climate Change Canada does not usually track dust devils, but Hazel concluded by saying if you do see one that is causing damage to report it to Environment and Climate Change Canada.
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