A swirling funnel of dust and debris drifts slowly across the plain. Real tornadoes form when warm, moist updrafts interact with a rotating column of air called a mesocyclone, with wind speeds ranging from 105 km/h in weak (EF0) tornadoes to over 480 km/h in violent EF5 events. Dust devils are their gentler cousins, forming on hot, calm days from surface heating without a thunderstorm, and rarely exceed 95 km/h. The funnel's narrow "rope" shape near the ground and wide flared top mimics real vortex dynamics where angular momentum is conserved as air spirals inward and upward. Drag to orbit, scroll to zoom.