<body><div><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=4aOEwz_1CGoFpYs00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=4aOEwz_1CGoFpYs00" width="1200" height="600" >PALMER, Alaska (KTUU) - A Palmer woman captured video of a large dust devil Wednesday afternoon, a phenomenon that meteorologists say are more common than people think.Sheila Reiswig said she had just picked up her niece when she turned a corner and was immediately surprised by what she saw.“I looked up and it was just swirling mass of dust,” Reiswig recalled. ”I’ve only seen itty-bitty dust devils. I’ve never seen one that big.”Alaska’s News Source Meteorologist Aaron Morrison said dust devils can happen on hot, dry summer days in Alaska. “When it comes to dust devils, they are extremely common in Alaska,” Morrison said. “They’re self-sustaining. So they’re continuously pulling in more of that warmer air.”Reiswig said she was mesmerized by the movement of dust she saw.“What gets me is down at the bottom where the dirt was just swirling, it looked like waves kind of, you know, you see waves swirling and mushing together,” she said. “That’s what it looked like just swirling around and around.” The dust devil Reiswig saw reached high above the treeline. Morrison said dust devils can vary in size from 10 feet wide to 300 feet wide, and some can be over 1,000 feet tall, according to the National Weather Service. Reiswig said at first, the dust devil resembled a tornado. “I thought it did. I mean, I’ve only seen tornadoes on TV,” she said.But the risk is much lower than that of a tornado.“Very rarely, extremely rare that it causes any fatalities. In fact, there’s only two recorded deaths in history where a fatality has occurred,” Morrison said, adding that people should still keep their distance from dust devils. “You do want to stay away because you don’t know if there is any debris in there or if something’s going to be flung your way,” he said. Morrison said dust devils don’t benefit people much on Earth other than a good view, but they have a unique role on Mars. The National Air and Space Museum says dust devils cleaned the solar panels of one of NASA’s rovers, keeping it running longer than expected.See a spelling or grammar error? Report it to web@ktuu.com</div></body>

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PALMER, Alaska (KTUU) - A Palmer woman captured video of a large dust devil Wednesday afternoon, a phenomenon that meteorologists say are more common than people think. Sheila Reiswig said she had just picked up her niece when she turned a corner and was immediately surprised by what she saw.

VIDEO: Large dust devil spotted in Alaska

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PALMER, Alaska (KTUU) - A Palmer woman captured video of a large dust devil Wednesday afternoon, a phenomenon that meteorologists say are more common than 

VIDEO: Large dust devil spotted in Alaska

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