Dust Devil
NOAA Storm Events type · 259 records since 1996 · 43 states and territories
The National Weather Service defines dust devil as: "A ground-based, rotating column of air, not in contact with a cloud base, usually of short duration, rendered visible by dust, sand, or other debris picked up from the ground, resulting in a fatality, injury, or damage." NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 259 dust devil records from 1996 through June 30, 2026, the most in Nevada (34), with 6 deaths recorded.
How the National Weather Service files dust devil
A ground-based, rotating column of air, not in contact with a cloud base, usually of short duration, rendered visible by dust, sand, or other debris picked up from the ground, resulting in a fatality, injury, or damage. Dust devils usually result from intense, localized heating interacting with the micro-scale wind field.
National Weather Service Instruction 10-1605, Storm Data Preparation (July 26, 2021), Appendix A, entry 10
Source: National Weather Service Instruction 10-1605. Read the instruction (PDF).
Dust Devil, 1996 to 2026
Records per year (2026 to June 30, 2026).
- recorded, no damage figure
- under $10 million
- $10 million or more
- $100 million or more
- $1 billion or more, or 100 deaths
- $10 billion or more, or 1,000 deaths
- a year's colour: its recorded damage or deaths
- a year with a death
- Records
- 2591996 to June 30, 2026
- Deaths
- 692 injuries
- Damage, 2025 dollars
- $2.6Mas filed (scale steps before 1993)
- Counties with a record
- 166of 3,266
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026. Search the record at NCEI.
Where do dust devil records happen?
States
Counties
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database (forecast-zone records count on every county the zone covers).
When do dust devil records happen?
45% of its dust devil records since 1996 fell in April and May. The busiest month is April.
The values, month by month
Jan 1 · Feb 5 · Mar 15 · Apr 58 · May 58 · Jun 43 · Jul 37 · Aug 22 · Sep 15 · Oct 3 · Nov 2 · Dec 0 (records).
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began.
The deadliest dust devil records
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-08-04 | Dust DevilEllis, Riverside County, CA Media outlets from LA reported 2 fatalities associated with skydiving deaths. At least 1 large dust devil was reported at the time of the accident and was reported to cause the instructor to loose control of the chute. The temperature was 103F and wind gusts were as high as 18 mph at nearby weather stations. This ... | 2 | 2 | – | |
| 2014-07-30 | Dust DevilCalverton, Suffolk County, NY Low level instability and convergence along a sea breeze front might have produced a dust devil that resulted in the death of 1 Sky Diver, and injured another. | 1 | 1 | – | |
| 1996-06-01 | Dust DevilLas Vegas, Clark County, NV A sky diver inadvertently crossed paths with a dust devil which aused his parachute to collapse about 30 feet above the ground. The man died from injuries sustained in the resulting fall. | 1 | 0 | – | |
| 2003-05-19 | Dust DevilEast Lebanon, York County, ME Wind from a large dust devil in the town of Lebanon reportedly lifted the roof of a two-story body shop causing it to collapse. A 51-year-old man was inside the shop at the time and was killed in the incident. | 1 | 0 | – | |
| 2008-06-18 | Dust DevilCasper, Natrona County, WY A 34-year-old woman was killed when a dust devil flipped a small scorer's shed next to a team dugout at a youth ball field complex. The woman apparently sought shelter from the dust devil by positioning herself behind the shed. The shed was flipped one-half revolution, crushing her on the first flip and then rolling ... | 1 | 0 | $1K |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, deaths direct and indirect as filed.
The most recent dust devil records
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-06-01 | Dust DevilRio Rancho, Sandoval County, NM | 0 | 0 | $10K | |
| 2026-04-30 | Dust DevilLa Cienega, Santa Fe County, NM | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-04-30 | Dust DevilSandia Park, Bernalillo County, NM | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-04-22 | Dust DevilCasas Adobes, Pima County, AZ | 0 | 0 | $1K | |
| 2025-11-30 | Dust DevilAliamanu, Honolulu County, HI | 0 | 1 | – | |
| 2025-09-11 | Dust DevilMarion, Crittenden County, KY | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2025-09-03 | Dust DevilGettysburg, Adams County, PA | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2024-08-04 | Dust DevilEllis, Riverside County, CA | 2 | 2 | – |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.