"Ross Richardson" wrote

I was surprised how much energy is in a dust
devil. I wouldn't go near one in a plane.

I had one experience with a dust devil, up close and personal, but it was
nowhere near as intense as the can be, I realize.

I was at a RC field one day, and there was a little break in the flying, and
there were no motors running. We suddenly heard a noise that didn't make
sense. It sounded like rain, very heavy, and nearby. We were all looking
around, and one of us saw the source of the noise. 3 or 4 hundred yards
from us, the tops of some trees looked like they were about to break off.
The trees stopped on the far side, then we saw some tall grass next to the
trees starting to blow around, heading right for us. We all finally
realized what was happening, and it was all hands on deck; we were all
trying to get all (3 or 4 planes each) of the planes held down.

The wind came upon us, and there were paper towels, and plastic bags blowing
around, and lifting up, high into the air. Most of the planes were saved,
but a few did get some damage. I would estimate that there were 60 to 70
MPH winds, for a period of the longest 30 seconds that any of us had ever
experienced.

As quickly as it came, it moved on. There was no bare dirt, so the event
just had a small amount of dirt, leaves and grass blowing around. We
watched a plastic bag lifting into the sky, until it was out of sight.

Strange, indeed!
--
Jim in NC