Dust Bowl Days

The dust bowl in the 193o's covered about 300,000 square feet in an area that covered most of Kansas and Oklahoma.

Winds would rage and move the dust, as if it were a land-based tsunami for hundreds of miles, consuming earth, houses and breathable air as it went.

The first two big storms of the dust bowl 650 million tons of top soil off the Great Plains, leaving the land unsuitable for planting, sustaining animals or doing anything other than being a barren wasteland.

In the last 4 months, Oklahoma has experienced its driest period since the dust bowl era of the 1930's.

Wildfires have already burned thousands of acres across the plains and the future of agriculture for the next year is uncertain at best.

Right now, about 16% of Oklahoma is classified as being in an "extreme" drought.  Almost all of the state is in some level of drought, with the exception of the far northeastern corner thanks to a few heavy snowstorms.

We can't predict when it will end or what the end will bring, but we can do some things to prevent the severely dry conditions from becoming even more dangerous:  NO cigarette butts out the window!  No outside burning!  No grilling outside!  NO welding without adequate water!