As spring progresses into summer, you may start to see more and more of a very common atmospheric phenomenon in our region. Dust devils are a very common sight during the warm season and a very large one was seen recently near Fort Stockton by Lynna Ann Ray.
You often see them swirling in the distance and they generally last for several minutes. The formation process is pretty simple. First, the sun heats up the ground unevenly which means that some patches of dirt become warmer than others. As a result of the ground heating up, the air directly above also heats up. As this happens, the air becomes less dense and begins to rise into the sky.
A vacuum, or area of low-pressure, develops directly beneath the rising pocket of air. This sucks air in horizontally which creates a rotating column of rising air. Dust devils last for several minutes until cooler air falls back to the surface and eliminates instability.
Dust devils tend to not be very strong although they can pick up small rocks and debris. In rare cases, they can become as strong as a weak tornado with wind speed up to 75 mph. It's advised to stay away from dust devils and instead, observe this weather phenomena from a safe distance.