WATCH: A dust devil passes through an area of Invermere. Video courtesy Dayna Dearin.
A video shot by an Invermere resident shows her getting caught up in a powerful dust devil that overturned a few boats in its path Tuesday afternoon.
It happened around 5:30 p.m. yesterday as Dayna Dearin was driving down Panorama Drive. Dearin says a big gust of wind came up as she turned left onto Industrial 1 Road.
“At first I just noticed a dark coloured truck driving towards me and big cloud of dust behind it,” she says. “Within a few seconds, as the truck got closer to me, a funnel had formed and the twister headed towards us. It traveled about two blocks between the other truck and I and then dissipated once passing me in my car.”
Dearin says there were tree branches and minor debris all over the road.
As she continued driving to the end of the road, she noticed more damage.
Two pontoon boats had been flipped over, taking out a chain link fence and the tin roof of a local mechanical building was also slightly lifted.
Dearin says it does not look like anyone was injured, and all in all, they dodged the bullet as the damage was minimal.
“I have lived in Invermere my whole life and I have never experienced anything like this,” she says. “It was exciting to say the least but also slightly alarming.”
Dearin shot the video of the dust devil passing through her car and put it on her Facebook page, where it has already received close to 16,000 views.
Global BC meteorologist Mark Madryga says the dust devil may have been the result of an upper level low pressure trough moving through B.C.
Combined with daytime heating, its presence led to some wild weather in many parts of the province Tuesday afternoon.
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“While isolated hailstorms and lightning strikes hit the Vancouver area, this large and powerful dust devil, with rotation similar to a small tornado, rolled through the Invermere area of the Columbia valley,” says Madryga.
“As air rapidly rose due to sunshine and colder air aloft, the column of warm air stretched upward, which increased the spinning effect. This not only whisked considerable dust into the air, but in this case the strong circulation was intense enough to overturn many objects in its path.”
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