Dust Storms and their Damage

Texas sand storm, February 20, 1894.
Dust devil.
Summer cottage on Lake Michigan with sand dune in yard.
Wind erosion in cotton field at Big Spring, TX.
Soil drifts on highway near Big Spring, TX.
The front of a minor "black blizzard" approaching Hays Experiment Station, KS.
Abandoned 600-acre field near Lamesa, TX.
Wind erosion has removed the surface soil from this field, exposing the less fertile subsoil.
Arial photo of dust arising from fields.
Sand dune and blowout area south of Reydon, OK. An attempt to stabilize with sorghum failed.
Arial photo of dust arising from fields.
Wind erosion remnants due to animal walking across wet soil.
Eroding soil filling furrows.
Blowing sand at Hunters Island, Manhattan, KS.
Soil drifting along fence line.
The sun is darkened by a dust cloud.
Sand dunes encroaching on a field.
Emergency tillage was used to try to stop erosion from this field.
Eroding soil filling furrows.
Young wheat plants blown out by a storm.
Dust storm approaching Big Spring, Texas on 16 June 1997. Photo taken by Dr. Weinan Chen.
Dust storm approaching Big Spring, Texas on 16 June 1997. Photo taken by Dr. Weinan Chen.
A dust storm threatens to take over a village in Senegal.
A dust storm obscures a farm in Iowa.
A dust storm arises along Interstate Highway in Kansas near the Colorado border. Photo by Ed Skidmore, USDA-ARS.
Sand dune in the Sahara Desert, Lybia. Photo taken by E.L. Skidmore in 1980.
Sand dune in the Sahara Desert, Lybia. Photo taken by E.L. Skidmore in 1980.
Soil is removed from a ditch along side a road.
Clear and dusty days at Big Spring, TX. December, 1970

 

Coalinga, California, December 1, 1991 -- Crews cleared burned hulks of cars and trucks off an interstate and tried to identify victims of a pileup that killed 17 people and injured 150 others during a blinding dust storm.
"Tangled Wreckage...Dust Takes Toll"

"Eight persons were injured during the early-morning rush hour today when 20 vehicles rammed together in blinding dust blowing across Interstate 40 just east of the Amarillo city limits." -Amarillo Globe-Times (04/13/71)

 

Any soil that is loose, dry, bare, and smooth is a candidate to be blown by the wind. If that soil is also unprotected for some distance, it will erode under windy conditions.
Most soil movement is within a foot of the ground.
Soil moved as saltation and surface creep is deposited in a road ditch in Iowa.