The Navajo call these dust "cyclones" Chiindii.....or the spirits of dead Navajos.
Navajo legend has it if the Chiindii spins clock wise it is said to be a good spirit...and if it spins counter clockwise it indicates a "notso" spirit. Weather specialists call them dust devils, or sand augers or dancing devils.
Dust devils are formed when hot air near the surface rises quickly through a pocket of cooler, low pressure air above it. As the hot air continues to rise it stretches, making the dust devil grow higher as it intensifies. As the hot air rises and cools, more hot air is "sucked in" from the bottom and the dust devil becomes self sustaining....for a time anyway. We got the above photo while driving on I-10 from Arizona to the New Mexico border. We have seen them in Texas and Nevada as well.
Speaking of Las Vegas, here a small dust devil forms next to the Red Rock Hotel and Casino.
Here they call them Nevada tornadoes.
This dust devil formed in Australia, where they are known as "willy - willy's"....gotta love those Aussies....and while we're at it.. "throw another shrimp on the barbie"!
Egypt calls them "winds of ghosts"....in other middle east countries they are called "djin" or genies, and they can be several hundred yards high!
It's quite fun to run across these dust devils, like we did this one alongside a secondary road in Arizona. They aren't as much fun when they cross the road as they can act like a sand blaster on a vehicle. Interesting stuff.....another example of Mother Nature at work.
Another interesting and well done blog, my love!
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