Potential dust devil winds tear awning off local home

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - A local family says they experienced strong winds in the Foothills that damaged a part of their neighbor's home.

The family says it was a clear sunny day when suddenly a surprise gust of wind blew right through and tore the awning right off the home.

"I was at the kitchen at the sink, and it sounded like 2 big bangs, and I thought 2 cars had hit each other out front," said neighbor Connie Lewis. "I ran out here, and I saw the wind was blowing real bad."

The National Weather Service (NWS) says a dust devil could have potentially been the cause.

“We’ve seen these situations before where seemingly out of nowhere a dust devil comes along and tears off an awning. That’s not uncommon, and here it is in clear day, and there’s no thunderstorms around at all, so that’s I think what happened in this situation," said National Weather Service meteorologist Austin Jamison.

NWS says dust devil winds can range between 40 to 60 miles per hour. They are short lived and can last for a few seconds or minutes.

“They typically form on a clear sunny day when it’s warm, the ground is being heated by the sun, and different surfaces will heat up more rapidly than other surfaces," said meteorologist Jamison.

They say these can cause intense little pockets of rising air or little thermals.

“Sometimes what your gonna have is air filling in below and converging, and that combination of upward moving air and converging air can lead to some local spin, and we call that a dust devil," said meteorologist Jamison.