Tolvanera

So there we were, not even 15 minutes outside of Hidalgo del Parral, when we notice that the dust cloud ahead and to the right had an oddly vertical aspect. Clearly time to turn on the camera:

That's right, ladies and gentlemen; that there is the star of this mornings Palabras Nuevas! post: a real, live tolvanera!

I now realize why the definition of "tolvanera" did not include "tormenta". This was decidedly not a storm. More light a tornado-in-training. Still, I don't really care to imagine what it would be like to drive through one on a motorcycle.

There was another we saw later in the day, too...somewhere closer to Torreón. It was too far from the road to capture on video, but was clearly of the same ilk, with the distinct funnel inside of a dust cloud.