A spectacular “snownado” spun its way across the mountains of Breckenridge, Colorado, on Saturday, much to the delight of a huge crowd of cheering skiers. “Oh my God,” said one, as many others yelled “Whoa!” in unison.
“Oh what a day it was,” wrote TikToker Dree, who posted the awesome sight four days ago (see video below).
Not to be confused with tornadoes, snownados — or snow devils (also not to be confused with dust devils) — are a “very rare phenomenon,” but not dangerous, according to the Idaho Statesman. And at least one adventurous skiier likely knew that fact as they skied right through the swirling funnel of snow.
From Geography Realm:
Snow devils form when dry snow is picked up by gusts of winds, creating a vortex.
Also known as ‘snownadoes’, snow devils are a rare winter phenomenon.
As cold air passes over a warmer surface can create conditions for a snow devil. The warmer air rising from the surface passes through the cold air, it creates an updraft that can being to rotate. The rotating pulls the dry snow up with it, creating the snow devil.
Since surface heating is both less likely in snow areas and the heating of the surface causes the snow to become wet and heavier, snow devils are far less common than dirt devils.
