Strange Weather Phenomena • Atmospheric Dynamics • Rotating Air
The atmosphere spins at almost every scale. Sometimes rotation becomes a harmless dust devil skating across a dry field. Sometimes it becomes a waterspout over the ocean. Sometimes heat and turbulence build a fire whirl. And under the most violent conditions, rotating air becomes a tornado capable of destroying almost everything in its path.
What is an atmospheric vortex, why does air begin rotating, and what separates a tornado from a waterspout, landspout, dust devil, gustnado, fire whirl or steam devil? This guide explains vorticity, circulation, wind shear, convergence, stretching, surface heating, turbulence and angular momentum before exploring the major families of rotating atmospheric phenomena on Earth — and beyond.
An atmospheric vortex is a rotating region of air organized around an axis of circulation. Some vortices form inside powerful thunderstorms. Others develop beneath growing cumulus clouds, along gust fronts, above intensely heated ground, over warm water in cold air, inside wildfire plumes or simply because turbulent airflow concentrates existing rotation.
The physics linking these phenomena is rotation. The mechanisms creating and intensifying that rotation can be completely different.
Atmospheric Vortices: Quick Facts
- A vortex is a rotating region within a fluid; atmospheric vortices are rotating regions of air.
- A vortex does not need to be visible.
- Dust, cloud droplets, water spray, smoke, ash, snow or debris may reveal otherwise invisible rotation.
- Atmospheric vortices range from tiny turbulence eddies to enormous storm-scale circulations.
- Tornadoes are intense rotating columns of air connected to a convective cloud and the ground.
- Waterspouts form over water and may be either fair-weather vortices or tornadoes over water.
- Fire whirls are produced by intense heat, buoyancy, inflow and turbulent fire environments.
- Dust devils usually form beneath clear or lightly clouded skies over strongly heated ground.
- Landspouts typically develop when pre-existing near-surface rotation is stretched beneath growing convection.
- Gustnadoes form along thunderstorm outflow or gust fronts and are not usually connected to the main cloud-base rotation.
- Steam devils form when very cold air moves across much warmer water.
- Snow devils are small vortices made visible by blowing snow.
- Wind shear, convergence, stretching, heating and turbulence are major vortex-producing mechanisms.
- Most atmospheric vortices are not tornadoes.
- Dust-devil-like vortices have also been observed on Mars.
What Is an Atmospheric Vortex?
A vortex is a region of fluid rotating around an axis.
In atmospheric science, the fluid is air.
The rotating axis may be:
- nearly vertical;
- horizontal;
- tilted;
- curved;
- embedded inside a much larger circulation.
The vortex itself may be invisible. We usually notice atmospheric vortices when rotation lifts or condenses material such as:
- cloud droplets;
- dust;
- sand;
- water spray;
- smoke;
- fire;
- ash;
- snow;
- leaves;
- debris.
Vorticity, Circulation and Why Air Spins
Meteorologists use the term vorticity to describe the local tendency of air to rotate.
Atmospheric vorticity can exist before a visible vortex develops.
Horizontal Vorticity
When wind speed or wind direction changes with height, the atmosphere can develop horizontal tubes of rotation.
Strong convective updrafts can tilt some of that horizontal vorticity upward, helping create vertical storm-scale rotation.
This mechanism is especially important in rotating thunderstorms and
supercells.
Vertical Vorticity
Rotation already oriented around a vertical axis can be concentrated when air converges toward the center of a circulation.
Vertical stretching can further intensify the spin.
Conservation of Angular Momentum
A useful simplified analogy is a figure skater pulling in their arms.
When rotating air moves closer to its axis, the circulation can spin faster.
Atmospheric vortex dynamics are more complicated than the skating analogy, but the central idea is useful: concentrating existing rotation can strengthen it dramatically.
Circulation vs Vortex
Circulation describes integrated rotation around a larger closed path.
A vortex refers more directly to concentrated rotational structure.
Large atmospheric circulations can therefore contain smaller vortices within them.
How Atmospheric Vortices Form
There is no single vortex-formation mechanism.
Atmospheric rotation can originate through several processes.
Wind Shear
Changes in wind speed or direction across distance create shear.
Vertical wind shear is especially important in organized severe thunderstorms because it can generate horizontal vorticity that powerful updrafts tilt vertically.
Convergence
When air moves inward toward a common region, existing rotation can become concentrated.
Convergence is important in many vortices, including dust devils, waterspouts, tornadoes and fire whirls.
Vertical Stretching
Rising air stretches a rotating column vertically.
Stretching can intensify rotation and reduce the horizontal scale of the vortex.
Surface Heating
Strong solar heating can create intensely buoyant thermals above dry ground.
If those thermals ingest weak pre-existing rotation, the circulation can intensify into a dust devil.
Extreme Heat
Wildfires create extremely strong buoyancy, turbulent inflow and horizontal temperature gradients.
These conditions can concentrate rotation into fire whirls and, under exceptional circumstances, much larger fire-generated vortices.
Outflow Boundaries
Thunderstorm downdrafts spread cool air outward along the surface.
Shear and convergence along these gust fronts can generate shallow rotating vortices such as gustnadoes.
Topography and Obstacles
Mountains, ridges, buildings and other obstacles can disturb airflow and generate local turbulence and eddies.
Air-Water Temperature Contrasts
When extremely cold air moves across much warmer water, vigorous shallow convection can create small steam-filled vortices known as steam devils.
Major Types of Atmospheric Vortices
Atmospheric vortices are easier to understand when grouped by the physical environment that creates them.
Thunderstorm-Related Vortices
- Tornadoes
- Tornadic waterspouts
- Landspouts
- Gustnadoes
Fire-Generated Vortices
- Fire whirls
- Fire tornadoes / firenadoes
- Pyroconvective vortices
Fair-Weather and Surface-Heating Vortices
- Dust devils
- sand devils
- leaf devils
- hay devils
Water and Cold-Air Vortices
- Fair-weather waterspouts
- steam devils
- snow devils
- ice devils
Rare or Environment-Specific Vortices
- ash devils;
- volcanic vortices;
- smoke vortices;
- debris vortices;
- pyroconvective vortices;
- planetary dust devils.
Atmospheric Vortex Comparison Table
| Vortex | Main Driver | Thunderstorm Required? | Common Environment | Typical Hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tornado | Concentrated storm-scale rotation | Usually | Severe convection | Extreme |
| Tornadic Waterspout | Tornado circulation over water | Usually | Severe storms over water | High |
| Fair-Weather Waterspout | Low-level convergence and stretching | No severe storm required | Warm water beneath developing cumulus | Low to moderate |
| Fire Whirl | Extreme heating, inflow and turbulence | No | Wildfires and intense fires | Moderate to extreme |
| Dust Devil | Strong surface heating | No | Dry, sunny land | Usually low |
| Gustnado | Rotation along thunderstorm outflow | Associated with storms | Gust fronts | Low to moderate |
| Landspout | Stretching of pre-existing surface rotation | Convective cloud required | Growing thunderstorms | Low to significant |
| Steam Devil | Cold air over warm water | No | Lakes, oceans, hot springs | Usually minimal |
| Snow Devil | Shallow turbulence or convection | No | Snow-covered terrain | Usually minimal |
Tornadoes: Earth’s Most Violent Atmospheric Vortices
A tornado is a violently rotating column of air extending from a convective cloud to the ground.
Tornadoes occupy the extreme end of the atmospheric-vortex spectrum.
Many significant tornadoes develop from rotating
supercell thunderstorms,
where a persistent mesocyclone creates a favorable environment for intense low-level rotation.
Tornado formation can involve:
- vertical wind shear;
- storm-relative inflow;
- mesocyclone development;
- near-surface vorticity;
- downdraft interactions;
- vertical stretching of concentrated rotation.
Tornadoes can vary enormously in:
- diameter;
- wind speed;
- duration;
- forward motion;
- damage intensity;
- internal vortex structure.
Waterspouts: Rotating Columns Over Water
A waterspout is a rotating column of air occurring over a body of water.
Two fundamentally different types exist.
Tornadic Waterspouts
Tornadic waterspouts are tornadoes occurring over water.
They form from storm-scale rotation and can be associated with supercells or other strongly rotating thunderstorms.
Fair-Weather Waterspouts
Fair-weather waterspouts usually form beneath developing cumulus clouds in relatively weak-wind environments.
Their rotation often begins near the water surface along convergence lines and becomes stretched upward beneath the growing cloud.
The Visible Funnel
Waterspouts may become visible through:
- condensation;
- spray;
- surface disturbance;
- a rotating ring of water.
Fire Whirls and Firenadoes
A fire whirl is a rotating column of hot air, flame, smoke and burning debris generated by intense fire environments.
Fires produce enormous buoyancy. Air rushes toward the heated region and rises rapidly.
If the inflowing air contains sufficient rotation, that rotation can become concentrated and stretched into a vortex.
Small Fire Whirls
Many fire whirls are relatively small and short-lived.
Large Fire Vortices
Under extreme conditions, wildfire convection can organize into much larger and more violent rotating circulations capable of:
- extreme winds;
- rapid fire spread;
- lofting burning debris;
- creating dangerous directional changes in fire behavior.
Fire Tornadoes
The term fire tornado or firenado is generally reserved for unusually intense fire-generated vortices with tornado-like dynamics or damage potential.
Dust Devils
A dust devil is a rotating column of air created primarily by strong surface heating rather than by a thunderstorm.
They commonly develop on:
- desert floors;
- dry agricultural land;
- parking lots;
- dry lake beds;
- construction sites;
- other strongly heated surfaces.
How Dust Devils Form
A typical sequence is:
- strong sunlight heats the ground;
- air immediately above the surface becomes much warmer than the air aloft;
- a buoyant thermal begins rising;
- near-surface air converges toward that rising thermal;
- weak existing rotation becomes concentrated;
- the spinning column strengthens and lifts dust.
Dust Devil vs Tornado
A dust devil is not a tornado.
Dust devils usually form in fair weather from intense surface heating, while tornadoes are connected to convective clouds and form through very different storm-scale dynamics.
Can Dust Devils Be Dangerous?
Most are weak, but strong dust devils can:
- lift debris;
- damage temporary structures;
- flip lightweight equipment;
- create hazards at airports or outdoor events.
Gustnadoes
A gustnado is a small, short-lived vortex that develops along a thunderstorm gust front or outflow boundary.
It forms when horizontal shear and convergence along the advancing boundary create shallow vertical rotation.
Why Gustnadoes Are Confused With Tornadoes
Gustnadoes can lift dust and debris into rapidly rotating columns that look tornado-like from a distance.
However, they are usually:
- shallow;
- short-lived;
- associated with the gust front;
- not connected to the main thunderstorm updraft;
- not connected to a mesocyclone.
Can Gustnadoes Cause Damage?
Yes.
Strong gustnadoes can damage:
- trees;
- temporary structures;
- signage;
- lightweight roofs;
- outdoor equipment.
Landspouts
A landspout is a tornado that develops through a non-mesocyclonic process.
Instead of descending from a strongly rotating supercell mesocyclone, landspout rotation often begins close to the ground.
How Landspouts Form
Weak pre-existing rotation can develop along:
- convergence boundaries;
- old outflow boundaries;
- wind-shift lines;
- sea-breeze fronts.
When a rapidly growing convective updraft develops directly above that boundary, the near-surface rotation can be stretched vertically and intensified.
Landspout vs Supercell Tornado
| Feature | Landspout | Supercell Tornado |
|---|---|---|
| Primary rotation origin | Near surface | Storm-scale rotation plus low-level processes |
| Mesocyclone required? | No | Commonly associated |
| Storm organization | Often modest | Frequently highly organized |
| Typical intensity | Often weaker | Can become violent |
Steam Devils
A steam devil is a small rotating column that develops when very cold air passes across much warmer water.
The warm water heats and moistens the air immediately above the surface.
Vigorous shallow convection develops as that warm moist air rises into the much colder atmosphere.
If weak rotation becomes concentrated within one of these convective plumes, a steam devil may form.
Where Steam Devils Occur
They can develop over:
- large lakes;
- oceans;
- hot springs;
- geothermal pools;
- other relatively warm water surfaces during very cold conditions.
Why Are They Visible?
Rising moist air rapidly condenses in the cold surroundings, making the rotating column visible as steam or fog.
Snow Devils
A snow devil is a small rotating column of air made visible when it lifts loose snow from the surface.
Snow devils are usually:
- small;
- short-lived;
- non-thunderstorm phenomena;
- relatively weak.
They may form when local turbulence, shallow convection or wind shear concentrates rotation over snow-covered terrain.
Snow Devil vs Snow Tornado
The informal expression snow tornado is sometimes used online for almost any rotating column of snow.
That does not mean the phenomenon is meteorologically a tornado.
Classification depends on the actual circulation and its connection — or lack of connection — to a convective cloud.
Rare Atmospheric Vortices
Many spectacular “mystery vortices” are simply familiar vortex physics made visible by unusual material.
Leaf Devils
Small turbulent vortices can lift dry leaves into rotating columns, especially on windy autumn days.
Hay Devils
Loose hay, straw or crop residue can reveal small fair-weather vortices over strongly heated farmland.
Ash Devils
Loose volcanic ash can be lifted by small thermally driven or turbulence-driven vortices.
Volcanic Vortices
Strong thermal gradients, turbulent eruption plumes and rapidly rising hot gases can generate vortex structures around volcanic activity.
These should be distinguished from large-scale rotating eruption columns and from unrelated optical cloud formations.
Smoke Vortices
Smoke can expose rotating eddies created by fires, terrain or turbulent wind fields.
Debris Devils
Loose paper, litter or lightweight debris can make otherwise weak urban vortices visible.
Ice Devils
Small vortices occasionally become visible by lifting snow grains or ice crystals over frozen surfaces.
Why Do Some Atmospheric Vortices Become Visible?
Rotation itself is invisible.
A vortex becomes visible when it interacts with material or when pressure and temperature changes cause condensation.
Condensation
Falling pressure and cooling inside some vortices can cause water vapor to condense into cloud droplets.
Dust and Sand
Near-surface vortices can lift particles from dry ground.
Water Spray
Waterspouts can create visible surface spray around the vortex base.
Fire and Smoke
Fire whirls become exceptionally visible because flames, smoke and glowing debris trace the rotating airflow.
Snow and Ice
Snow devils and similar vortices become visible by lifting loose frozen particles.
Which Atmospheric Vortices Are Dangerous?
Atmospheric vortices span an enormous range of intensities.
| Vortex | Typical Risk | Main Hazard |
|---|---|---|
| Tornado | Very high to extreme | Violent wind and debris |
| Tornadic Waterspout | High | Marine and coastal wind damage |
| Fair-Weather Waterspout | Low to moderate | Small-craft hazard |
| Fire Whirl | Variable | Fire spread, extreme wind and burning debris |
| Landspout | Low to significant | Localized tornado damage |
| Gustnado | Usually low to moderate | Localized wind damage |
| Dust Devil | Usually low | Flying debris |
| Steam Devil | Minimal | Usually observational only |
| Snow Devil | Minimal | Reduced visibility or blowing snow |
Where Do Atmospheric Vortices Occur?
Atmospheric vortices occur worldwide because rotation can emerge from many different atmospheric environments.
Tornado-Producing Regions
Tornadoes occur on several continents, including:
- North America;
- South America;
- Europe;
- South Asia;
- East Asia;
- Australia;
- southern Africa.
Waterspout Regions
Waterspouts are especially common over warm coastal and inland waters, including:
- Florida;
- the Great Lakes;
- the Mediterranean;
- the Adriatic;
- the Caribbean;
- tropical and subtropical seas.
Dust-Devil Regions
Dust devils favor strongly heated dry terrain and are common in desert and semi-arid regions worldwide.
Steam-Devil Regions
Steam devils favor strong contrasts between cold air and relatively warm water and can occur over lakes, oceans and geothermal environments.
Fire-Whirl Regions
Fire whirls can develop wherever intense fires generate strong buoyancy, turbulent inflow and favorable local rotation.
Atmospheric Vortices Beyond Earth
Vortex physics is not unique to Earth’s atmosphere.
Mars Dust Devils
Mars is famous for enormous dust devils created by intense solar heating of the Martian surface.
Orbiters, landers and rovers have observed:
- dust-devil tracks;
- moving dust columns;
- pressure drops as vortices pass;
- wind changes associated with vortex encounters.
Planetary-Scale Vortices
Larger atmospheric vortices also exist on other planets.
Jupiter and Saturn contain enormous long-lived rotating storm systems, while polar atmospheres on several planets display large vortex structures.
These giant circulations operate on completely different scales from tornadoes and dust devils, but they illustrate the same fundamental fact:
rotating fluids naturally organize into vortices across an enormous range of sizes.
Benchmark Atmospheric Vortex Events
The most useful historic cases are those that illustrate different vortex-formation mechanisms.
Tri-State Tornado — 1925
One of the deadliest tornado disasters in U.S. history remains a benchmark example of destructive convective rotation.
El Reno Tornado — 2013
The El Reno event became particularly important because of its enormous and complex circulation, rapidly changing subvortices and major implications for tornado research and storm-chasing safety.
Carr Fire Vortex — 2018
The Carr Fire in California produced an exceptionally intense fire-generated rotating circulation, demonstrating that wildfire convection can create vortex dynamics far beyond ordinary small fire whirls.
Waterspout Outbreaks
The Great Lakes and Mediterranean periodically experience multiple waterspouts developing simultaneously along convergence boundaries beneath convective clouds.
Mars Dust Devils
Robotic exploration of Mars transformed dust devils from an Earth weather curiosity into an important planetary-atmosphere phenomenon.
Atmospheric Vortex Myths and Misconceptions
| Myth | Reality |
|---|---|
| Every vortex is a tornado. | Dust devils, steam devils, waterspouts, gustnadoes and fire whirls can all form through different processes. |
| Every visible funnel is a tornado. | A funnel-shaped cloud does not become a tornado unless the rotating circulation reaches the ground. |
| All waterspouts are tornadoes. | Fair-weather waterspouts form through a different low-level process and do not require a mesocyclonic thunderstorm. |
| Dust devils are miniature tornadoes. | They may look similar but form mainly through surface heating rather than severe-thunderstorm dynamics. |
| Gustnadoes are tornadoes. | Gustnadoes usually form along outflow boundaries and are not connected to the main cloud-base rotation. |
| Every fire whirl is a fire tornado. | Most fire whirls are small. Only exceptionally intense fire-generated vortices approach tornado-like dynamics. |
| Vortices only occur during storms. | Dust devils, steam devils and many fire whirls can develop without thunderstorms. |
| The visible material defines the vortex type. | Dust, snow, leaves, smoke or spray often only make otherwise invisible rotation visible. |
Legacy Article and Redirect Classification
Use the vortex’s formation mechanism and dominant phenomenon — not simply its appearance — when deciding where a legacy article belongs.
Redirect to Atmospheric Vortices Explained when the article focuses on:
- dust devils;
- sand devils;
- gustnadoes;
- landspouts when no dedicated tornado treatment is required;
- steam devils;
- snow devils;
- ice devils;
- leaf devils;
- hay devils;
- ash devils;
- small volcanic vortices;
- smoke vortices;
- debris vortices;
- Mars dust devils;
- general atmospheric vortex science;
- articles comparing several types of vortices.
Redirect Existing Vortex Anomalies Pillar Here
The former:
https://strangesounds.org/vortex-anomalies-explained
should 301 redirect to:
https://strangesounds.org/vortex-phenomena-explained
Its useful material should be incorporated into the Dust Devils, Gustnadoes, Landspouts, Steam Devils, Snow Devils and Rare Atmospheric Vortices sections above.
Redirect Elsewhere When a Specialist Topic Dominates
| Dominant Topic | Best Destination |
|---|---|
| Tornado formation, damage, ratings, records or outbreaks |
Tornadoes Explained |
| Fair-weather or tornadic waterspouts |
Waterspouts Explained |
| Fire whirls, fire tornadoes or wildfire-generated vortices |
Fire Whirls & Firenadoes Explained |
| Supercell mesocyclones and rotating thunderstorm structure |
Supercell Structure Explained |
| General severe-thunderstorm organization |
Severe Thunderstorms Explained |
| Microbursts, downbursts or destructive straight-line winds |
Extreme Wind Phenomena Explained |
Atmospheric Vortex Glossary
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Vortex | A rotating region within a fluid. |
| Vorticity | A measure describing the local tendency of a fluid to rotate. |
| Circulation | A measure of integrated rotational flow around a closed path. |
| Wind Shear | A change in wind speed or direction across distance. |
| Convergence | Air flowing toward the same region. |
| Stretching | Vertical elongation of a rotating column that can intensify rotation. |
| Mesocyclone | A broad storm-scale rotating updraft associated with a supercell. |
| Tornado | A violently rotating column of air connected to a convective cloud and the ground. |
| Waterspout | A rotating column of air occurring over water. |
| Dust Devil | A thermally driven vortex produced mainly by strong surface heating. |
| Gustnado | A shallow vortex forming along thunderstorm outflow or a gust front. |
| Landspout | A non-mesocyclonic tornado formed when near-surface rotation is stretched beneath growing convection. |
| Steam Devil | A small vortex produced by strong shallow convection over warm water beneath cold air. |
| Fire Whirl | A rotating column created by intense fire-driven heating, inflow and turbulence. |
Sources and Editorial Methodology
Atmospheric vortex classification should be based on formation mechanism and physical connection to the parent weather system, not simply on visual appearance.
Preferred Sources
-
NOAA National Weather Service
-
NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory
-
NOAA Storm Prediction Center
- European Severe Storms Laboratory
- National meteorological agencies
- NASA planetary-atmosphere research
- Peer-reviewed atmospheric dynamics research
StrangeSounds Editorial Rules
- Do not call every rotating column a tornado.
- Classify vortices by physical formation mechanism whenever possible.
- Separate gustnadoes from tornadoes.
- Separate fair-weather waterspouts from tornadic waterspouts.
- Distinguish ordinary fire whirls from exceptionally intense fire tornadoes.
- Do not use visible dust or condensation alone to classify a vortex.
- Keep mesocyclone and supercell dynamics within Supercell Structure Explained.
- Keep tornado-specific science within Tornadoes Explained.
- Keep waterspout-specific science within Waterspouts Explained.
- Keep fire-vortex science within Fire Whirls & Firenadoes Explained.
- Absorb small and unusual vortices into this parent rather than creating weak standalone pillars.
Frequently Asked Questions About Atmospheric Vortices
What is an atmospheric vortex?
An atmospheric vortex is a rotating region of air organized around an axis of circulation.
What causes air to start spinning?
Atmospheric rotation can develop through wind shear, convergence, surface heating, turbulence, outflow boundaries, extreme fire heating and other processes that generate or concentrate vorticity.
What is vorticity?
Vorticity is a measure describing the local tendency of air to rotate.
Is every atmospheric vortex a tornado?
No. Tornadoes are only one type of atmospheric vortex. Waterspouts, dust devils, fire whirls, landspouts, gustnadoes, steam devils and snow devils form through different processes.
What is the strongest atmospheric vortex?
Tornadoes are generally the most intense small-scale atmospheric vortices near Earth’s surface and can produce extreme wind speeds and devastating damage.
What is the difference between a tornado and a dust devil?
Tornadoes are connected to convective clouds and form through storm-scale processes, while dust devils usually develop in fair weather when intense surface heating creates rising thermals that concentrate weak near-surface rotation.
What is the difference between a tornado and a waterspout?
A tornadic waterspout is essentially a tornado over water. Fair-weather waterspouts form through a different low-level process beneath developing cumulus clouds.
What is a gustnado?
A gustnado is a shallow vortex that forms along a thunderstorm gust front or outflow boundary and is usually not connected to the storm’s main rotating updraft.
Is a gustnado a tornado?
Generally no. Gustnadoes develop along thunderstorm outflow and are structurally different from tornadoes connected to convective cloud-base circulation.
What is a landspout?
A landspout is a non-mesocyclonic tornado that develops when pre-existing near-surface rotation is stretched upward beneath a growing convective cloud.
What is a fire whirl?
A fire whirl is a rotating column generated by intense fire-driven heating, buoyant ascent, inflow and turbulence.
Is every fire whirl a firenado?
No. Most fire whirls are relatively small. The term fire tornado or firenado is generally reserved for unusually intense fire-generated vortices with tornado-like behavior or damage potential.
What is a steam devil?
A steam devil is a small rotating column that forms when very cold air moves over much warmer water, producing vigorous shallow convection and condensation.
What is a snow devil?
A snow devil is a small vortex made visible when rotating air lifts loose snow from the ground.
Are snow devils tornadoes?
Usually not. Most snow devils are shallow turbulence- or convection-driven vortices without a tornado connection to a convective cloud.
Can atmospheric vortices form without thunderstorms?
Yes. Dust devils, steam devils, snow devils and many fire whirls form without thunderstorms.
Why are some vortices visible?
Vortices become visible when they lift dust, snow, water spray, smoke, fire, ash or debris, or when pressure and temperature changes cause condensation.
Can atmospheric vortices occur on other planets?
Yes. Mars frequently produces large dust devils, and much larger atmospheric vortices occur on planets such as Jupiter and Saturn.
Where should old dust-devil articles redirect?
Dust-devil articles should redirect to Atmospheric Vortices Explained unless a future dedicated dust-devil pillar is justified by substantial unique content.
Where should old gustnado articles redirect?
Gustnado articles should redirect to Atmospheric Vortices Explained because gustnadoes are covered as a specialized outflow-boundary vortex within this parent pillar.
Where should old landspout articles redirect?
Landspout articles can redirect here when the focus is vortex classification and formation, while major tornado events may belong in Tornadoes Explained.
Where should old steam-devil and snow-devil articles redirect?
Redirect them to Atmospheric Vortices Explained because these rare small vortices are covered directly in this parent encyclopedia.
What should happen to Vortex Anomalies Explained?
Its useful content should be merged into Atmospheric Vortices Explained and the old Vortex Anomalies URL should permanently redirect to this parent pillar.
