Have You Seen This? Hay devil hits Oregon

Wind tosses around freshly cut hay at a farm in Bend, Oregon, July 16.

Wind tosses around freshly cut hay at a farm in Bend, Oregon, July 16. (ViralHog via YouTube)


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BEND, Oregon — We've all seen dust devils. Kind of like mini tornadoes, they're a wind phenomenon that develops when the surface temperature is much warmer than the temperature of the air above it.

The heated air below is lighter and less dense, causing it to rise up to the cooler air. This rapid process can create a vortex.

Most dust devils are on the smaller side, but they sometimes exceed 300 feet in diameter and thousands of feet in height. In some case, the wind speeds reach 60 mph. Yikes! They're are only visible because of the dust they pick up and swirl around. The dustier the field, the more impressive the vortex.

Or, in the case of this video, it's the hay that makes it such a special sight.

This hay devil occurred earlier this month in central Oregon.

While it's unfortunate a lot of hard work was blown away by this wild wind, it's kind of beautiful to see the dimensions of the hay devil so clear — thanks to the unusual debris it picked up.

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Grant Olsen joined the KSL.com contributor team in 2012. He covers outdoor adventures, travel, product reviews and other interesting things. He is also the author of the book “Rhino Trouble.”

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