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234:"… At other times a cloud is seen to be approaching from a distance of many miles. Already it has the banked appearance of a cumulus cloud, but it is black instead of white and it hangs low, seeming to hug the earth. Instead of being slow to change its form, it appears to be rolling on itself from the crest downward. As it sweeps onward, the landscape is progressively blotted out. Birds fly in terror before the storm, and only those that are strong of wing may escape. The smaller birds fly until they are exhausted, then fall to the ground, to share the fate of the thousands of jack rabbits which perish from suffocation."
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Cattle farming and sheep ranching had left much of the west devoid of natural grass and shrubs to anchor the soil, while over-farming and poor soil stewardship left the soil dehydrated and lacking in organic matter. A drought hit the United States in the 1930s, and the lack of rainfall, snowfall,
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The term "Dust Bowl" initially described a series of dust storms that hit the prairies of Canada and the United States during the 1930s. It now describes the area in the United States most affected by the storms, including western Kansas, eastern
Colorado, northeastern New Mexico, and the Oklahoma
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During the 1930s, many residents of the Dust Bowl kept accounts and journals of their lives and the storms that hit their areas. Collections of accounts of the dust storms during the 1930s have been compiled over the years and are now available in book collections and online.
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The destruction caused by the dust storms, and especially by the storm on Black Sunday, killed multiple people and caused hundreds of thousands of people to relocate. Poor migrants from the
American Southwest (known as
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farmer in Kansas during the 1930s. He experienced the period of dust storms, and the effect that they had on the surrounding environment and the society. His observations and feelings are available in his
148:. The Dust Bowl as an area received its name following the disastrous Black Sunday storm in April 1935 when reporter Robert E. Geiger referred to the region as "the Dust Bowl" in his account.
191:. The SCS was created to guide land owners and land users in reducing soil erosion, improving forest and field land, and conserving and developing natural resources. This led to the
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260:, a singer-songwriter from Oklahoma, wrote a variety of songs documenting his experiences living during the era of dust storms. Several were collected in his first album
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78:. It was one of the worst dust storms in American history and caused immense economic and agricultural damage. It is estimated that 300 thousand tons of
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were forced to take cover as a dust storm or "black blizzard" blew through the region. The storm first hit the
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and Texas panhandles. The "black blizzards" started in the eastern states in 1930, affecting agriculture from
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U.S. Weather Bureau
Surface Analysis at 7:00 am CST on April 15, 1935, just after the Black Sunday dust storm
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Musicians and songwriters began to reflect the Dust Bowl and the events of the 1930s in their music.
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and moisture in the air dried out the topsoil in most of the country's farming regions.
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In 1935, after the massive damage caused by these storms, Congress passed the
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You could see that dust storm comin', the cloud looked deathlike black,
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Watkins, T. H. (2003). "Prosperity, Depression, and War: 1920–1945".
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There struck the worst of dust storms that ever filled the sky.
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We thought it was our judgement, we thought it was our doom.
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It fell across our city like a curtain of black rolled down,
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And through our mighty nation, it left a dreadful track.
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Personal accounts of Black Sunday and other dust storms
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memoirs. Here he describes an approaching dust storm:
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89:On the afternoon of April 14, residents of several
442:Historic Events for Students: The Great Depression
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332:"The Black Sunday Dust Storm of 14 April 1935"
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187:(SCS) as a permanent agency of the
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136:. By 1934, they had reached the
510:"USDA Is Celebrating 150 Years"
486:Trimarchi, Maria (2008-09-17).
384:, History Channel documentary.
357:"Black Sunday: April 14, 1935"
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564:Droughts in the United States
534:. Maine NCRS. Archived from
488:"What Caused the Dust Bowl?"
16:1935 dust storm in Oklahoma
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594:Natural disasters in Texas
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185:Soil Conservation Service
66:is a particularly severe
193:Great Plains Shelterbelt
183:, which established the
142:Mississippi River Valley
82:were displaced from the
398:"The Dust Bowl Drought"
221:Lawrence Svobida was a
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438:"Dust Bowl 1931–1939"
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228:Farming the Dust Bowl
181:Soil Conservation Act
156:Further information:
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538:on 14 February 2013
444:. Encyclopedia.com
252:In popular culture
95:Oklahoma panhandle
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532:"NRCS Fact Sheet"
263:Dust Bowl Ballads
213:Avis D. Carlson,
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558:Categories
307:References
103:Boise City
68:dust storm
579:Dust Bowl
240:Ken Burns
195:project.
123:Dust Bowl
72:Dust Bowl
211:—
134:Arkansas
25:Spearman
167:Effects
144:to the
84:prairie
80:topsoil
74:in the
542:20 May
516:19 May
494:19 May
448:22 May
407:24 May
367:24 May
338:23 May
152:Causes
86:area.
223:wheat
174:Okies
130:Maine
29:Texas
544:2012
518:2012
496:2012
450:2012
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369:2012
340:2012
189:USDA
132:to
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