With the dry soils, strong winds, and bare ground, dust storms could be a problem in western Kansas this year. During the 1930s the frequent dust storms gave rise to the label “Dust Bowl” for the period. One epic storm occurred in the Texas Panhandle on March 29, 1935. During the storm, Amarillo Texas reported severe dust for 84 hours. That is 3 and a half days! At the height of the event they recorded 6 hours with near zero visibility. The observer at Ashland KS also noted the storm with the comment, “Not our own dust, came from Clovis or Dighton”. This was just the last of several dust storms. The Ashland observer reported dust on 11 days that March.
Mary Knapp, Weather Data Library
mknapp@ksu.edu