In what comes as a bizarre development, a whirlwind-like pattern was witnessed emerging out of nowhere on the sands of Chennai’s Marina beach. The incident took place at around 9 pm at night. Many people shared videos of the very uncanny phenomenon.
The viral videos show tall columns of wind moving in a circular motion. The weird thing is that it did not happen on the complete stretch but rather on a very small part of the beach.
The wind tossed around a few shops in and around the beach and led to fear among those present, who were left wondering as to what they had just seen.
While the visuals could leave many wondering over whether a mini cyclone had hit the beach, meteorologist are clarifying it to be a natural phenomenon named “Dust Devil”.
What is a Dust Devil?
A dust devil is a powerful, well-formed but short lived whirlwind. Dust devils are generally harmless but in some rare cases, can destroy property and cause harm to the people.
Dust devils develop when a pocket of hot air near the surface increase quickly through cooler air above it, leading to the formation of an updraft. Some even are witnessed on other planets including Mars.