UAE | Environment

'Dust devil' takes Dubai motorists by surprise

Motorists were shocked to see a mini "tornado" approaching land near Rashid Hospital.

  • By Alice Johnson, Staff Reporter
  • Published: 23:33 June 23, 2008
  • Gulf News

Dubai: Motorists were shocked to see a mini "tornado" approaching land near Rashid Hospital.

The 'tornado' stretched for 1.5m into the air, forming a whirling vortex of dust and sand and lasted for around 30 seconds.

Dubai Met Office has confirmed that the phenomenon was a 'dust devil', which occurs when there is a great difference between the air and land temperatures.

They therefore occur more frequently during the summer months, and stay relatively small in the UAE.

Factors contributing to dust devil formation are flat terrain, such as desert, clear skies and a light wind or lack of wind, as well as extremes in temperature between air and land.

They can grow up to 10m wide and 1,000m tall, although this is rare and they are comparable to tornadoes.

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