The Elusive Tornadic Dust Devil

Hi again everyone!
Today, as promised, we're going to be talking about how a surface-based rotation becomes a tornado. First, let's touch on how windshear produces a mesocylone.
-------------------------------------------------------------------->
------------------------------------------------------------->
---------------------------------------->
----------------------------->
----------------------->
------------>
-->
Windspeed increases with height, which begins rotating the air, as this tube of air is lifted by a thunderstorm upraft it tilts more vertically as the updraft rotates around this air. It doesn't just tilt at a 90° angle, it stays somewhat slanted, giving the storm cell the advantage of not destroying itself by pushing directly down on its own updraft.

Mesocyclonic tornadogenesis occurs when the downdraft is not much cooler than the updraft, allowing the storm to wrap its own downdraft around the mesocyclonic updraft and being able to warm it enough to travel from the ground back into the updraft

Gustnadoes teach us how little is needed to make winds rotate, they often form through simply the winds' interaction with the ground, its naturally and unnaturally uneven surfaces, and the inherent miniscule instability; snagging, tunneling, and interacting with the warmer air around them at different points along their paths.

Dust devils are an interesting animal however, because they often have an element of lift akin to a tornado. Leaf devils next to your office building probably rely on a wind tunnel stretching effect, but others are quite similar to tornadoes, and rarely, some are!

Note how the dust devil above lifts and even tilts. As warm air rises from the surface, cooler air takes its place. Now let's say that air is rotating, which as we know little is needed to make air rotate and we have two examples of rotating air above, but only one involves an updraft. So let's say you have essentially a dust devil on the water: rotating water rising into an updraft; given that cumuliform clouds are created by water in an updraft you can probably understand why waterspouts are fairly common. So what happens when there's just enough moisture going into the updraft of a dust devil to form a cumuliform cloud above? Well, this creates a tornado! What happens if a dust devil is engulfed by a cloud updraft? It's a tornado!

Here's an example of a possible tornadic dust devil. The uploader claims to have seen corresponding rotation in the clouds above, which would make this a "landspout." Basically, like a dust devil on water is a waterspout, but rather a waterspout on land!

Next time you see one, go ahead an enjoy your little waterless tornado! Next time we'll discuss straight line winds. Stay weather aware until then, especially anyone caught in today's potential outbreak!