Steam devil

A small rotating column of air forms over warm water and becomes visible when it draws up condensation from cooler air. It is a weak, water-associated cousin of a dust devil.

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Convection: Heat transfer through the bulk movement of a fluid, such as air or water. Warm water heats nearby air, making it rise and helping organize the column.
Dust devil: A small, rotating column of air that lifts dust from a heated surface. It shares the weak convective-vortex structure but is made visible by dust rather than droplets.
Great Lakes: A group of five large freshwater lakes on the Canada–United States border. Cold-season air over their comparatively warm surfaces can produce conspicuous steam devils.
Atmospheric optics: The study of optical effects produced by the atmosphere and its contents. Changes in lighting and droplet density affect how clearly a steam devil can be seen.
Vorticity: A measure of local rotation in a fluid, including the atmosphere. The visible plume requires rotating air, though the source of rotation can vary.
Waterspout: A column of rotating air and cloud extending between a water surface and a cloud. Waterspouts are typically larger and more intense, and are associated with cloud-scale rotation.
Lake Michigan: The third-largest Great Lake by surface area, lying entirely within the United States. Steam devils have been observed over its warm water when cooler air moves overhead.
Field observation: The systematic recording of phenomena in their natural settings. Photographs and direct observations help document the short-lived vortex and its surroundings.
Water vapor: Water in its gaseous state, present in the atmosphere in varying concentrations. Water vapor from the warm surface supplies moisture that can condense in cooler air.
Tornado: A violently rotating column of air extending from a thunderstorm to the ground. A steam devil is a weak surface vortex, not a thunderstorm-generated tornado.