Dusty twisters - Dust devils: not exactly a tornado

A dust devil was spotted by storm chasers in Saragosa, Texas, on May 3rd, 2025, but these are not classified like tornadoes.

Although they look similar, dust devils aren't associated with severe storms and can happen on a clear, sunny day! This means they won't show up on the WeatherRadar. They are formed due to differential heating of surfaces. We often see these over fields; agricultural and baseball alike.

Depending on the surface substance, the temperature can vary. For example, a dirt field next to asphalt will have cooler temperatures due to its likely water content while asphalt is very dark and porous, meaning it doesn't hold water to keep it very cool and its dark color absorbs and emits a lot of heat, warmer than the air above it.

The difference in surface heating versus the air can cause the air over top of it to spin counterclockwise - called an eddy in its smaller scale - and eventually pick up speed, turning into a full dust devil! Depending on the surface it goes over, its color can be dusty gray to brown, like what we see happening over the Saragosa, Texas, fields in the video.

These can appear to come out of nowhere due to not showing up with storms on the WeatherRadar. They can also gain enough strength to cause minor damage!