page_title: Steam devil
section_title: Occurrences
hierarchical_section_title: Steam devil / Occurrences
caption_attribution_description: English: Steam devil. The steam comes from lava entering the ocean at the Big Island of Hawaii.
context_page_description: A steam devil is a small, weak whirlwind over water that has drawn fog into the vortex, thus rendering it visible.
  They form over large lakes and oceans during cold air outbreaks while the water is still relatively warm, and can be an important mechanism in vertically transporting moisture. They are a component of sea smoke.
  Smaller steam devils and steam whirls can form over geyser basins even in warm weather because of the very high water temperatures. Although observations of steam devils are generally quite rare, hot springs in Yellowstone Park produce them on a daily basis.
  Steam devils have only been reported and studied since the 1970s. They are weaker than waterspouts and distinct from them. The latter are more akin to weak tornadoes over water.
context_section_description: Steam devils are seen on the Great Lakes in early winter. They occur in the Atlantic off the coast of the Carolinas when cold air from the continent blows across the Gulf Stream.  Steam devils can occur on small lakes and even over hot springs, but rather more rarely than on large bodies of water.  It is also possible for steam devils to form over wet land if the air is cold and the sun is heating the ground.
  Small steam devils occur at some of the larger hot springs in Yellowstone Park where a layer of steam fog hangs over the pools and wind can start to lift it up into fog streamers.  One such example is the Grand Prismatic Spring in the Yellowstone Midway Geyser Basin.  The air temperature can be high in terms of human comfort when the steam devils form.  In 1982 a cluster of seventeen steam devils was observed when the air temperature was between 17 and 21°C.  Although this is much higher than, for instance, the temperature of the air over the Great Lakes, the water temperature is also proportionately higher, being very close to boiling, so the temperature difference is still 79°C.
  Another well known location in Yellowstone, the Old Faithful geyser, produces horizontal steam devils.  In all, Yellowstone probably has the most frequent occurrences of accessible steam devils anywhere.  Several steam devils are produced every hour at the most productive locations.  Steam devils over geyser basins were first reported by Holle in 1977.
caption: Figure 3. Steam devil at Big Island, Hawaii.  The large plumes of vapour are caused by lava entering the ocean.
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