Manipulation of gas molecules by ultrashort laser pulses has lately become widely used. We suggest a method for creating a high frequency, macroscopic gas vortex by unidirectionally rotating molecules with lasers. Collisions transform molecular rotation into circular flow due to angular momentum conservation. We show that the effect persists over a time scale much longer than usually examined, acting as a long-term memory beyond the coherent correlation lifetime. We describe the vortex creation and dynamics, when confined and in free space. Additionally, we show that repetitive laser pulses cause intermittent jolts that may enable manipulation of micron-sized particles by this localized injection of angular momentum.