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Confidence votes 95.7K. A sand tornado is not truly a tornado. It is a phenomenon called a dust devil. Dust devils are whirlwinds that form when a layer of hot air forms just above the ground and rises in a relatively small, rotating column, picking up up dust or sand as it does so. Dust devils are rarely strong enough to cause damage, and are much weaker than tornadoes.
A tornado is a violent rotating column of air that is contact with both the ground as well as a cumulonimbus cloud. It is also known as twisters or cyclones. The base of a tornado that touches the earth is usually surrounded by a cloud of dust and debris. A tornado depending on its size can have wind speeds between 40mph and 360mph. Tornadoes often develop from a class of thunderstorms known as supercells.