http://www.azfamily.com/story/388027...s-through-town
That sounds about right. In my last undergraduate semester at Abilene, TX, we were in the middle of drought that lasted from 1962-1966. (I enrolled in 1963 and graduated from grad school in 1968) In Jan of 1965 a huge dust storm just like the one pictured in the article rolled through town and over the campus. We had to breath through moistened face masks. Some of the dust was really fine, like talcum. There were several other dust storms during that period, although the 1965 dust storm was the biggest and left 1-2" of dust in its wake on everything. Sometimes the dust particles would cause precipitation and we'd get a mud sprinkle, or sometimes a mud rain. Minor dust storms happened so often no one paid any attention to them and they never made the news. Sometimes a sprinkle would be followed by a dust storm, leaving mud spots on everything.
I got curious about how often West Texas (and Arizona and the SouthWest in general) had dust storms.
http://www.weatherwise.org/Archives/...exas_full.html
One Arizona native emailed us this comment about Thursday's dust cloud: "I have never seen anything like this in 50 years."
I got curious about how often West Texas (and Arizona and the SouthWest in general) had dust storms.
http://www.weatherwise.org/Archives/...exas_full.html
Droughts
From the early days of Texas history, recorded by Spaniards who were exploring the Southwest, drought has been a recurring problem. A drought in central Texas dried up the San Gabriel River in the early 1750s, forcing the abandonment of a settlement of missionaries and Native Americans. Stephen F. Austin's first colonists were also hit by drought. Their initial corn crop was snuffed out in 1822, turning the once ambitious farmers into desperate hunters. The most severe drought in Texas during the past century began in 1950 and continued until March 1957. Other major droughts included the periods 1886–1887, 1893, 1917–1919, 1933–1935, 1962–1966, 2005–2006, 2008–2009, and 2010–2015. Because much of the agriculture and all of the forage for cattle is non-irrigated, even just a few consecutive months of substantially below-normal precipitation can cause an emergency situation. The 1930s drought was only serious in northern portions of the state, which form the southern end of the infamous Dust Bowl region. Most dust storms occur during the first few months of the year, when strong winds from the west or north are common in the Panhandle and parts of West Texas.
From the early days of Texas history, recorded by Spaniards who were exploring the Southwest, drought has been a recurring problem. A drought in central Texas dried up the San Gabriel River in the early 1750s, forcing the abandonment of a settlement of missionaries and Native Americans. Stephen F. Austin's first colonists were also hit by drought. Their initial corn crop was snuffed out in 1822, turning the once ambitious farmers into desperate hunters. The most severe drought in Texas during the past century began in 1950 and continued until March 1957. Other major droughts included the periods 1886–1887, 1893, 1917–1919, 1933–1935, 1962–1966, 2005–2006, 2008–2009, and 2010–2015. Because much of the agriculture and all of the forage for cattle is non-irrigated, even just a few consecutive months of substantially below-normal precipitation can cause an emergency situation. The 1930s drought was only serious in northern portions of the state, which form the southern end of the infamous Dust Bowl region. Most dust storms occur during the first few months of the year, when strong winds from the west or north are common in the Panhandle and parts of West Texas.