Thursday's unusual raining of hay while the sun shone on Audlem, identified by BBC weatherman Chris Fawkes as a 'dust devil', is a phenomenon seen in various parts of the world. The rotating updrafts of air, which on Thursday had sucked freshly cut hay thousands of feet in to the sky before it dropped on the village, are known as 'dancing devils' in the South West of the USA.
The Navajo Indians call them chiindii – if a chiindii spins clockwise it is said to be a good spirit; if it spins anticlockwise it is said to be a bad spirit. Unfortunately, we don't know which way the Audlem 'chiindii' was spinning! We'll keep fingers crossed for good fortune.
In Australia, they are commonly known as a 'willy willy' – we cannot imagine the reason but, believe it or not, it's said to be based on an aboriginal word – while in Egypt, they are usually called Fasset El 'Afreet or the ghost's wind. They are also found on Mars but it's anybody's guess what the Martians call them!
Dust devils are usually harmless, but can grow in size to threaten both people and property. They are comparable to tornadoes in that both are an unusual weather phenomenon of swirling air vortices. It seems conditions may have been just right on Thursday – clear skies or lightly cloudy conditions with light or no wind and a cool atmospheric temperature.
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