A rotating dust cloud often seen in dry, desert areas is called a dust devil. It is a small, usually short-lived whirlwind that forms when intense surface heating makes air near the ground rise rapidly through cooler air above. Under suitable conditions, the rising column begins to rotate and lifts dust, sand, and other loose debris.
Dust devils are most common over deserts, dry fields, bare soil, and even hot paved surfaces. Clear skies, light winds, and a strong temperature contrast between the ground and the air aloft favor their formation. They may move across the surface while the vortex lasts, then quickly disappear when it encounters cooler air or loses its supply of heated air.
A dust devil is not the same as a tornado. Tornadoes are usually associated with severe thunderstorms and powerful rotating updrafts, whereas dust devils generally form in fair weather and are much weaker. Haboobs are different too: they are broad walls of dust driven by thunderstorm outflow, not compact rotating columns. Rarely, unusually large dust devils can become hazardous.