Weather Moment: In West Texas, we get Dust Devils all the time. Its when the wind starts circling into a vortex & its like a mini-tornado. In some cases, they will hit a prairie fire and the tumbleweeds, which are already ablaze will spread that fire even worse. Each burning tumbleweed acts like a fire bomb to light the next area of prairie grass or trees or houses. If there are no dust devils which have become fire devils, the winds will blow straight along the ground. If there is a prairie fire, the winds will blow burning tumbleweeds along the ground and spread the fires. Either way, fire can be a major hazard on the prairie. I have seen mounds of tumbleweeds being held by fences. A tumbleweed is held to the ground by a single stem. When the wind is strong enough, that stem breaks and the tumbleweeds goes where the wind dictates. I have seen tumbleweeds as large as vehicles, too. If they are set ablaze, they burn hot and fast. Picked up by the wind, they are cruel in what they burn. One other item: Prairie grass can be thick, creating a mat. A fire can spread rapidly under the top of the mat, spreading the danger far and wide. (By the way, tumbleweeds are not native to America. The seeds came over from the Steppes of Russia, lodged in the clothes and belongings of the emmigrants. Before this migration, America had no tumbleweeds.) - Forrest Allen Ward
Posted on: Mon, 11 Aug 2014 12:00:08 +0000
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