While walking along Halibut Point Road near the middle school, the kids and I saw a dust devil move from Crabapple Drive (where it seemed like it might have formed) across the main road where a pedestrian was briefly caught in it as it passed across the sidewalk and into the grass near the batting cage. At that point I thought it died out, but then saw it (seeming a little smaller) pick up some dust on the other side of the grass before dying out completely. We waited around for a couple of minutes hoping another one would form – I wanted to try and take a video, and the kids wanted to try walking through it. We didn’t see another one, however.
I’ve only seen a few of these over the years in Sitka. The most memorable time was once when I was in fifth grade and at least a couple (I can’t remember, but more than one) went across the playground from Baranof Street to Monastery one afternoon after school. I was impressed that it picked up wood chips and flung them around.