See it: Mammoth dust devil swirls close to Florida home

Watch: Massive dust devil swirls close to Florida home

A video recorded in Mayo, Florida, shows a massive dust devil swirling

MAYO, Fla. - A Florida man stepped outside his home last week and was met with a strange sight – a massive dust devil.

Shawn Brown said he captured the phenomenon on video outside his home in Mayo on April 10.

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"What do we got? A tornado here, or what?" he joked in the video.

The dust devil, which Brown described as "hundreds of feet tall," was seen sucking up dirt and debris from a field as it slowly spun across the landscape.

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What is a dust devil?

Dust devil takes over little league field in Tennessee

A Tennessee little league game got an unexpected visitor: a dust devil. These swirling columns of air happen when hot air near the ground rapidly rises, creating a spinning effect. Molly Holcomb captured video of one in action. (Video from March 2025)

Dust devils typically form in fair weather on sunny, hot days with light winds. The intense heating along the ground causes a vast difference in temperature within a few hundred feet. The heated air then soars upward as the surface winds provide some spin, making it look like a tornado.

Dust devils usually only last a few minutes and have low enough wind speeds to rarely cause damage.