Watch: Massive dust devil tears across Tucson parking lot
Video shows a several-yard wide dust devil first sweeping across a parking lot in Marana, then moving across Interstate 10 into a nearby business park.
Watch: Massive dust devil tears across Tucson parking lot
Video captures a large dust devil sweeping across a parking lot in in Marana, Arizona. Debris can be seen being pulled from the vortex. (Video: Michael Willever via Storyful)
MARANA, Ariz. -- That was no tornado, but a massive dust devil that swept across an area north of Tucson Monday might have sure felt like it.
Video shows a several-yard wide dust devil first sweeping across a parking lot in Marana, then moving across Interstate 10 into a nearby business park. Debris could be seen being pulled from the vortex and tossed high into the sky.
"That's the biggest dust storm I've ever seen," photographer Michael Willever said on the video. "There's debris a couple hundred feet in the air."
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There were no reports of any significant damage or injuries.
Unlike tornadoes, dust devils form in fair weather on sunny and hot days with somewhat calm winds.
Intense heating along the ground causes a vast difference in temperature within a few hundred feet of the ground, causing the heated air to shoot upward with light surface winds providing some spin.
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Dust devils usually only last a few minutes and have low enough wind speeds to rarely cause damage though this Tucson example appears to be an exception to the rule!