Transcript Quantifying Dust Bowl Storms

Quantifying Dust
Bowl Storms
By
Sean King
ME449 Air Quality
Table of Contents
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Introduction
Why was there a dust bowl?
Maps of the Dust Bowl Storms
How did the dust bowl end?
Conclusion
Introduction
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The object of this study to to locate and quantify dust storms that occurred
during the ‘dust bowl’ period of the 1930’s
Dust storm information was extracted form articles in the Monthly
Weather Review. The severity of the storms was objectively determined
and applied to the data.
This report will breakdown the individual storms from 1936 to 1939 and
give their location and severity.
Reasons why the dust bowl came about
Pictures of dust bowl storm distribution
How did the dustbowl end?
Causes for the dust bowl
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In the late 19thcentuaury , the population of the southern plains exploded due to new
settlers, most farmers
From 1879 to 1887, phenomenally heavy rains fell on a patch of the High Plains from
Texas to Canada. This gave false impressions of the usual rainfall in the region to the
new settlers.
Crop production shifted from a variety of crops, used as fallbacks if one failed to
predominantly wheat production
Farming took over land once considered sufficient only for grazing of livestock
The appearance of modern mechanical farm equipment encouraged farmers to plow
up more land and to plant on acreage that was otherwise unusable
Not recognizing the problems of initiating massive agricultural programs meant
farmers had no contingency plans when the drought hit.
Repeated drought and farming of marginally productive acreage was intensified by a
lack of soil conservation methods
Maps of the dust storms
Maps depicting frequency of dust activity in early 1936
Maps
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Note that the center of the frequency distribution of the dust storms moves slightly
to the north from March through May.
Also note that in June there was more than one center of peak dust activity, as the
frequency overall increases.
Also in June the absolute maximum of dust activity frequency occurred in North
Dakota, instead of in the Southern Plains, indicating that there is more than one
specific region affected by the dust storms.
Maps
depicting Frequency and Severity of Dust Activity in March 1936
Note that the most frequent dust activity occurs at areas are at the edge of the most
severe section for the storms for the month
Description of a storm
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Details describing a trip from Dodge City, KS to various spots in the dust bowl,
February 17, 1937, by a weather bureau officer
Before 6am, light dust was blowing through Dodge City, with visibility a little over a
mile.
Light dust was present on the way to Liberal, KS, where at 10 miles out, dense dust
was encountered. This brought visibility was reduced to 15 to 20 feet.
Staying on the road was difficult. After over an hour, the 10 miles were covered.
Next stop Hooker, OK, while dense dust was still present.
Frequent stops were needed along the way because visibility was reduced to near
zero for periods.
Three hours and forty five minutes were needed to drive the 23 miles between towns.
Drifts several feet high were noted along the way.
Finely powered dust was everywhere.
More deserted farmhouses were passed than inhabited ones.
How it was resolved
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New Deal relief and conservation programs
Government Agencies helped out
 The Southwest Agricultural Association [SAA]
 Federal Surplus Relief Corporation [FSRC]
New Soil conservation practices
 Chisel plowing: digging deep into the soil and leaving large chunks of
dirt intact, the ground itself could perform as a windbreak
 Lister plowing, where gullies were cut deep for windbreaks
 Planting of hardy plants like Kaffir and Sudan grass
 Spreading the sand out in thin patches to allow the wind to redeposit
it.
Conclusion
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Rapid population growth, increase in land farmed, new farming
practices, and the uniform wheat crop dried out the soil in the
American Southern Great Plains.
The great dust storms and the dust bowl mainly affected the south
central portion of the United States, predominately the Texas
panhandle, parts of Oklahoma, Colorado, and New Mexico.
Seasonality of dust storms seems to be centered around the spring
and summer months.
Through the farmers conservation efforts and federal relief
programs that helped them along, the dust bowl was finally brought
under control
Sources
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For latitude and longitude positions:
http://www.bcca.org/misc/qiblih/latlong_us.html
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Dustbowl history
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http://www.digital-neighbor.com
http://freespace.virgin.net/john.cletheroe/usa_can/usa/
dbowl2.htm
http://www.mindspring.com/~jwar/dust/dirty.htm
http://www.swosu.edu/~bryantr/1614/ppt/c6pt1/sld001.htm
http://www.ptsi.net/user/museum/dustbowl.html
CAPITA Dustbowl Files
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R. J. Martin, “Duststorms of February and March 1936 in
the United States” The Monthly Weather Review, p87-88,
April 1936
R. J. Martin, “Duststorms in the United States, April
1936” The Monthly Weather Review, p137, April 1936
Sources
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R. J. Martin, “Duststorms of May 1936 in the United
State” The Monthly Weather Review, p176, May 1936
R. J. Martin, “Duststorms of August-December 1936 in the
United States” The Monthly Weather Review, p429, December
1936
R. J. Martin, “Duststorms of January-April 1937 in the
United States” The Monthly Weather Review, p151-152,
April 1937
R. J. Martin, “Duststorms of 1938 in the United States”
The Monthly Weather Review, p12-15, January 1939
R. J. Martin, “Duststorms of 1939 in the United States”
The Monthly Weather Review, p446-451, February 1940
J. P. Kohler, “Duststorms in the United States, June
1936” The Monthly Weather Review, p206, June 1936
H.F. Choun, “Duststorms in the Southwestern Plains Area”
The Monthly Weather Review, p195, June 1936