Editing Dust devil (section)

{{Short description|Type of whirlwind}}
{{Other uses|List of European dust devils and dust devil outbreaks=}}
{{Infobox weather type
|name=Dust devil
|image=dust devil.jpg
|caption=A dust devil in [[Arizona]]
|area of occurrence=Primarily [[temperate]] and [[tropical]] regions
|season=Most common in summer
|effect=Dust and debris lofted into air, possibly [[Severe weather#High redoing weather infoboxwinds|wind damage]]
}}
{{Weather}}
[[File:1993 141-31A Amboseli dust devil.jpg|thumb|A dust devil seen in Amboseli National Park, Kenya in 1993.]]
A '''dust devil''' (also known regionally as a '''dirt devil''') is a strong, well-formed, and relatively short-lived [[whirlwind]]. Its size ranges from small (18&nbsp;in/half a metre wide and a few yards/metres tall) to large (more than 30&nbsp;ft/10&nbsp;m wide and more than half a mile/1&nbsp;km tall). The primary vertical motion is upward. Dust devils are usually harmless, but can on rare occasions grow large enough to pose a threat to both people and property.<ref name="Glossary">{{cite web |url=https://glossary.ametsoc.org/wiki/Dust_devil |title=dust devil |website=Glossary of Meteorology |publisher=[[American Meteorological Society]] |year=2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Glossary of Meteorology |publisher=[[American Meteorological Society]] |year=2000 |url=http://amsglossary.allenpress.com/glossary/search?id=dust-devil1 |isbn=978-1-878220-34-9 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090130003357/http://amsglossary.allenpress.com/glossary/search?id=dust-devil1 |archive-date=2009-01-30}}</ref>

They are comparable to [[tornado]]es in that both are a weather phenomenon involving a vertically oriented rotating column of wind. Most tornadoes are associated with a larger parent circulation, the [[mesocyclone]] on the back of a [[supercell]] [[thunderstorm]]. Dust devils form as a swirling updraft under sunny conditions during fair weather, rarely coming close to the intensity of a tornado.