Nature's 'juvenile delinquents' - dust storms

Not only is virtually the entire northwestern corner of the U.S., including most of Idaho, in a "drought disaster" situation, but we're likewise seeing an "explosion of dust devils," tornadic offshoots, throughout the region.

Aptly named, these 'dust devils' swirl up seemingly from nowhere and sometimes sweep their victims off their feet.

One woman south of Salt Lake City several years ago was lifted by a dust devil off a sidewalk and into the street a few feet away. This devilish meteorological event literally tore off her clothes, leaving her in her underwear!

Luckily, only few of these misbegotten nuisances develop into full-blown tornado-like events. But, many barns and buildings have been severely damaged by man-sized dust devils.

These so-called 'mini-twisters' usually arise on very hot afternoons from superheated air that builds over dusty areas with flat surfaces. Eddies of strong, whirling winds are suddenly created by the combination of rising warm to hot air and surrounding diverse currents of cooler air that rush into the tiny low pressure area to quickly equalize the pressure differences.

The lives of dust devils are normally 'snuffed out' in the matter of a few short minutes. But, on rare occasions when the surface of the ground is exceptionally hot and the air aloft much cooler, those dust devils have risen to more than 1,000 feet and have lasted for nearly a full hour over the same areas. Many people report that they've heard "sounds of broom thrashings," when close to those 'little devils.' Cars can literally get 'sand blasted' from this phenomenon, causing thousands of dollars worth of damage.

I should likewise mention that the area of the U.S. with the most annual 'dust devils' is Eastern Washington.

One is virtually guaranteed that on any hot, dusty and sunny summer afternoon, there will be numerous dust devils in the dry, flat fields where localized heating of the air creates ideal conditions for the development of the world's smallest storm cells, the dust devils, nature's 'juvenile delinquents.'

NORTH IDAHO WEATHER REVIEW AND LONG-RANGE OUTLOOKS

This has been one of the hottest Julys on record across the Inland Northwest. Virtually the entire region is locked in choking drought thanks, at least in part, to the strong El Nino in the waters of the east-central Pacific Ocean.

As of this Thursday, July 23 writing, we had observed a record 14 days this month with afternoon highs at 90 degrees or above including a couple of triple-digit readings on July 3 and July 9. Our total number of 'Sholeh Days' for the 2015 summer season stood at 24 afternoons at 90 degrees or above, only one 90-degree day less than the normal number of such hot days for an entire summer season of 25.

Not only has it been exceptionally hot this summer of 2015, it's likewise been extremely dry, again thanks to El Nino. Our total precipitation since early June in Coeur d'Alene has been only about a third of our normal rainfall.

As Maureen Dolan mentioned in Wednesday's edition of the Coeur d'Alene Press, the summer water recreation season could come to an end sooner than usual at Priest Lake.

According to the Idaho Department of Water Resources, "due to severe drought conditions in North Idaho there is the lack of normal water flows into Priest Lake."

The water resource people are already getting calls from worried boat owners asking "when they should pull their boats from the water."

The severe drought is likewise continuing to result in extremely high fire danger levels across the Inland Northwest, including North Idaho. Just this week, there was another man-caused fire locally on Tubbs Hill in town.

As far as rainfall during the second half of this summer season ending in late September is concerned, I still don't see any substantial amounts of moisture arriving any time soon. We should remain mostly dry under a strong, stationary ridge of high pressure, again thanks to El Nino. Most of the isolated shower activity will be in the nearby mountains to the north and east of our valley locations.

Please be CAREFUL! We don't need any more wildfires in the region.

Cliff Harris is a climatologist who writes a weekly column for The Press. His opinions are his own. Email sfharris@roadrunner.com