aslkahuna Posted April 5, 2011 Share Posted April 5, 2011 I have frequently mentioned that Arizona Dust Devils can be dangerous. This weekend one proved itself to be very much so. A large dust devil Saturday struck a bouncing castle in a play yard in downtown Tucson. Although the Castle was staked down, the devil picked it up with two children inside and carried it over a cyclone fence at a height of 8-10 feet and across 3 lanes of traffic and onto the median of Speedway Blvd. An adult male who attempted to to chase after it was knocked flat by the wind. He suffered cuts and bruises while the children were hospitalized with serious injuries. As it was, they were lucky for the street they were blown across is not named Speedway Blvd. without reason. Each year damaging dust devils occur in Arizona (some with injuries as well) and they can be as strong as EF1 to low end EF2. During the monsoon, it has been documented that dust devils that devil in close proximity to thunderstorms can also morph into landspout type tornadoes. Ironically, there was a fatality in a dust devil in Maine some years ago. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier Posted April 5, 2011 Share Posted April 5, 2011 Any pics of this Steve? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aslkahuna Posted April 5, 2011 Author Share Posted April 5, 2011 Any pics of this Steve? None that I know of as far as the devil is concerned. There's some video of the aftermath. The area it occurred in is downtown semi residential and it looks like it hit a day care or play center. Other problem is that dust devils wind up so fast and without any warning that it's hard to catch them when they start. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aslkahuna Posted April 5, 2011 Author Share Posted April 5, 2011 The young girl was pretty badly banged up and the boy took a good conk on the head. The median strip is filled with big rocks and occasional cactus and Mesquite and Palo Verde trees. This is actually the second incident of a Bouncing Castle being taken out by winds. The previous one took place two months ago west of Tucson during a frontal windstorm-there were kids in that one as well but they weren't seriously hurt. That incident was preventable since the winds were forecast days in advance whereas dust devils are random. HOWEVER, when I was putting forecasts out for Fort Huachuca and after I retired public forecasts on my homepage, when I expected that there was a chance for dust devils I would so note in my discussion and forecast and always put the remark "strong shifting winds possible in and near dust devils" . I've never seen dust devils mentioned in an NWS forecast here in AZ despite the fact that they can be dangerous. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mnchaser Posted April 5, 2011 Share Posted April 5, 2011 2 bounce houses blown away in two days! What the hell is going on down there? Time to ban bounce houses. http://www.kgun9.com....asp?s=14375689 http://www.kgun9.com/Global/story.asp?S=14371836 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HurricaneJosh Posted April 5, 2011 Share Posted April 5, 2011 I have frequently mentioned that Arizona Dust Devils can be dangerous. This weekend one proved itself to be very much so. A large dust devil Saturday struck a bouncing castle in a play yard in downtown Tucson. Although the Castle was staked down, the devil picked it up with two children inside and carried it over a cyclone fence at a height of 8-10 feet and across 3 lanes of traffic and onto the median of Speedway Blvd. An adult male who attempted to to chase after it was knocked flat by the wind. He suffered cuts and bruises while the children were hospitalized with serious injuries. As it was, they were lucky for the street they were blown across is not named Speedway Blvd. without reason. Each year damaging dust devils occur in Arizona (some with injuries as well) and they can be as strong as EF1 to low end EF2. During the monsoon, it has been documented that dust devils that devil in close proximity to thunderstorms can also morph into landspout type tornadoes. Ironically, there was a fatality in a dust devil in Maine some years ago. Steve Wow-- how crazy is that? The story made me bust out laughing-- it sounded so strange-- until I read the part about the injuries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radarman Posted April 5, 2011 Share Posted April 5, 2011 tornado::trailer dustdevil::____________ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aslkahuna Posted April 5, 2011 Author Share Posted April 5, 2011 tornado::trailer dustdevil::____________ In the late 1980's, a dust devil took out the FHU Aerostat, a tethered blimp the size of a 747 and caused millions of dollars worth of damage to it and the equipment on board (the blimp was moored that day). Measured winds were in excess of 80 mph. But if you are looking for a dust devil magnet, they seem to like to pick on Garden Sheds that are not tied down. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Msalgado Posted April 9, 2011 Share Posted April 9, 2011 Driving down from CO back to NM last June I remember coming across what seemed like dozens of strong dust devils near Great Sand Dunes NP in souther CO. Some seemed to go higher than a couple of thousand feet but I probably suck at estimating heights without some frame of reference. They were really really impressive. Seeing updrafts pick up that much dirt and carry it so high was really surreal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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