dust devils
Small desert whirlwinds
Dust devils are small, spinning columns of air that pick up dust and debris from the ground, visible as whirling funnels in dry, open areas.
Unlike tornadoes, they form from ground heat rather than storm systems and are typically harmless: We watched dust devils dance across the desert floor.
They dissipate within minutes.
Curve winding around center
- rotationTurning on an axis
- swirlRotating, curving movement
- funnelCone directing flow
- whorlSpiral arrangement of ridges
spin · twister · coil · eddy · circulation · whirl · gyre · centrifugal
Violent rotating windstorm
- cycloneRotating low-pressure storm system
- updraftUpward air movement
- thermalsWarm air columns
- convectiveHeat transfer through movement
turbulence · anemometer · microburst · downdraft · windstorm · gust · barometer · forecast
Wind-driven desert grit
- aridDevoid of water
- dunesWind-formed sand ridges
- outbackRemote interior wilderness
- barrenUnable to produce
tumbleweed · sand · sunbaked · sirocco · dry · parched · scrubland · plains
Temporary, soon departing
- fleetingPassing very quickly
- momentaryLasting very briefly
- short-livedLasting only briefly
- passingMoving by or temporary
vanishing · dissipating · quick · unpredictable · spontaneous · brief · sudden · fading
spiral
Curve winding around center
whorl · spin · twister · coil · eddy · circulation · whirl · gyre · centrifugal · suction
tornado
Violent rotating windstorm
convective · turbulence · anemometer · microburst · downdraft · windstorm · gust · barometer · forecast · cumulus
sandstorm
Wind-driven desert grit
barren · tumbleweed · sand · sunbaked · sirocco · dry · parched · scrubland · plains · steppe
transient
Temporary, soon departing
- fleetingPassing very quickly
- momentaryLasting very briefly
- short-livedLasting only briefly
passing · vanishing · dissipating · quick · unpredictable · spontaneous · brief · sudden · fading · dissolving
- African Safarielephant, elephants, lions, zebras, zebra
- savannasavanna, grassland, acacia, African savannah, baobab tree
- prairie thingsprairie, grassland, tallgrass, shortgrass, buffalo grass
- spinnersspinning top, tops, top, gyroscopes, fidget spinner
- planetary atmospheresatmospheric layers, clouds, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, argon
- Sahara ecologyfennec fox, dromedary, dromedaries, camels, dunes
dust devilsdead calm
Complete absence of wind
stillness · doldrums · still air · calm · stagnant air
dust, dusty, dusting, duster, dusted, devilish, devils, devilry, bedevil