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A steam devil is a small, weak whirlwind over water (or sometimes wet land) that has drawn fog into the vortex, thus rendering it visible.They form over large lakes and oceans during cold air outbreaks while the water is still relatively warm, and can be an important mechanism in vertically transporting moisture. [1]
[1] [clarification needed] Small whirlpools form when a bath or a sink is draining. More powerful ones formed in seas or oceans may be called maelstroms (/ ˈ m eɪ l s t r ɒ m,-r ə m / MAYL-strom, -strəm). Vortex is the proper term for a whirlpool that has a downdraft. [citation needed]
Also, small, semi-powerful “wind blasts” may be seen before some minor whirlwinds, which can come from a wind storm. These wind blasts can start to rotate and form minor whirlwinds. Winds from other small storms (such as rain storms and local thunderstorms ) can cause minor whirlwinds to form.
Substantial fires can create their own weather – and do it in several ways.
Fire whirls or swirls, sometimes called fire devils or fire tornadoes, can be seen during intense fires in combustible building structures or, more commonly, in forest or bush fires. A fire whirl is a vortex-shaped formation of burning gases being released from the combustible material. The genesis of the vortex is probably similar to a dust ...
Fire whirls are spinning columns of fire that can grow to be "several hundred feet in height."
A whirligig is an object that spins or whirls, or has at least one part that spins or whirls. It can also be a pinwheel, spinning top, buzzer, comic weathervane, gee-haw, spinner, whirlygig, whirlijig, whirlyjig, whirlybird, or simply a whirly. They are most commonly powered by the wind but can be hand-, friction- or motor-powered.
The pyramid periwinkle is small, ranging from 2.5 cm to less than 1 cm in length. It is pale grey in colour, with two rows of nodules on the central whirl of its body which are a pale buff colour. It lives on or above the high tide line, usually clinging to vertical surfaces. Many individuals will cluster together in crevices to maintain moisture.