Watch a dust devil terrorize the Canary Islands
A dust devil and a funnel cloud took residents by surprise on one of the mountainous Canary Islands on Saturday.
Watch: Dust devil tower over Canary Islands
A dust devil spun up in Lanzarote on Spain's Canary Islands on Saturday. This was just one of the wild weather phenomenon on the island. Severe storms dropped heavy rain and large hail. Local media also reports several potential tornadoes.
LANZAROTE, Canary Islands – Canary Island residents were shocked as they watched a dust devil loom high above them on Saturday
Mother Nature unleashed her fury on one of Spain's islands off northwestern Africa, bringing funnel clouds, heavy rain, large hail and violent lightning.
Residents shocked by the weather phenomena
A man pulled his car over and caught the impressive monster on camera.
"A storm blew over with intense thunder, lightning and large hail stones," resident Charlie Fayers told Storyful. "During the storm, several tornadoes broke out across the island."
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Image 1 of 4Take a look at how the dust devil dwarfed cars. (Charlie Fayers via Storyful)
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Image 2 of 4The mountainous island doesn't see many dust devils or tornadoes. (Charlie Fayers via Storyful)
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Image 3 of 4In certain light, it is tough to tell the funnel is filled with tell-tale dirt. (Charlie Fayers via Storyful)
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Image 4 of 4Most dust devils form on sunny days. (Charlie Fayers via Storyful)
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He was not the only one to misidentify the dust devil.
"Very few tornadoes hit the Canaries each year, so obviously, we don't have much experience of them," wrote a resident in an online weather forum. "In the forum where I showed this footage, some people don't believe that it's a real tornado, but I'm sure that it is."
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What is a dust devil?
Dust devils are not tornadoes, though. They grow from the ground when the sun heats up the surface of one spot more than another, causing air to rise quickly.
Different wind speeds at different altitudes may cause the rising column of air to spin. The rotating column then picks up dirt and debris along the surface.
Dust devils are generally smaller and less intense than a tornado, according to the National Weather Service. They typically span 10 to 300 feet across and stretch 500 to 1000 feet into the air.
And even though they may not be classified as a tornado, dust devils can still do damage.
Funnel cloud spotted on the Canary Islands
Funnel cloud shocks some Canary Island residents
A resident of Spain's Canary Islands caught a funnel cloud in the distance. Spain's meteorological agency issued yellow weather warnings for the area Saturday for storms dropping hail, heavy rain and possible tornadoes.
On the same day, another resident caught a funnel cloud.
Heating at the surface causes air to rise and form clouds with up and down drafts. Just as with a dust devil, winds increasing with height and varying directions can start the column rotating.
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(FOX Forecast Center / FOX Weather)
The rotation can eventually become so strongly concentrated that a narrow column of violently rotating air develops. This is called a funnel cloud.
If the funnel cloud stretches far enough down that it reaches the ground, it becomes a tornado.
Spain's meteorological agency issued yellow weather warnings for the island on Saturday.