- Sand Devils

[Guest guest]

> Kari, when I was a kid working on the farm one could see these fairly

often,

> but not on the scale large enough to do more than swirl dust around. It

was

> interesting to be able to step into one and follow it along. I think they

> are caused by layers of air changing places; heavier air layer on top of a

> less dense layer.

That's what I think too... I bet that was a neat thing to do, to walk into

one and follow it... Here, they are usually that small, you know, nothing

of significance. It's neat to see them in the fields from a distance and

watch them move along. Lately, I guess because of the dry high heat and

winds, they have been really something to see. I saw one last month in a

field but at first, it was SO huge and strong, that it looked like a huge

fire had started because all we could see was a huge orange cloud about two

acres in size. I told the kids there must be a fire over there, but we

could see paper, wooden real estate signs, etc.., just flying around in a

circular motion. It was something. The one here yesterday wasn't as strong

but I guess it hit on another street and felled a huge eucalyptus tree!

Nature is something else!

Kari