Black Sunday was a particularly serious dust storm

Dust storm

A dust / sand storm is a meteorological phenomenon common in arid and semi-arid regions. Dust storms arise when a gust front or other strong wind blows loose sand and dirt from a dry surface. Particles are transported by saltation and suspension, causing soil to move from one place and deposition...

, or black blizzard, that took place during the Dust Bowl

Dust Bowl

The Dust Bowl, or the Dirty Thirties, was a period of severe dust storms causing major ecological and agricultural damage to American and Canadian prairie lands from 1930 to 1936...

 era on April 14, 1935.

Event

The storm began in the mid afternoon, presaged by thousands of birds fleeing before the rolling clouds of dirt. A long drought

Drought

A drought is an extended period of months or years when a region notes a deficiency in its water supply. Generally, this occurs when a region receives consistently below average precipitation. It can have a substantial impact on the ecosystem and agriculture of the affected region...

 during the first half of the 1930s, combined with a lack of knowledge of conservation techniques, caused excessive topsoil

Topsoil

Topsoil is the upper, outermost layer of soil, usually the top to . It has the highest concentration of organic matter and microorganisms and is where most of the Earth's biological soil activity occurs.-Importance:...

 erosion on farmlands in the Midwest. Disastrous dust storms like these forced many farmers to leave their homes to start a new life elsewhere, especially California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

. The storm itself was created by a combination of dry topsoil and high (60 mph (26.8 m/s)) wind

Wind

Wind is the flow of gases on a large scale. On Earth, wind consists of the bulk movement of air. In outer space, solar wind is the movement of gases or charged particles from the sun through space, while planetary wind is the outgassing of light chemical elements from a planet's atmosphere into space...

s.

The Black Sunday storm was the worst dust storm in the Great Plains

Great Plains

The Great Plains are a broad expanse of flat land, much of it covered in prairie, steppe and grassland, which lies west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada. This area covers parts of the U.S...

 during the 1930s. It is estimated to have removed 300,000 tons of topsoil from the area known afterwards as the Dust Bowl. The storm of black dust resulted from prolonged drought and overplowing in the Great Plains, which destroyed the sod and left topsoil exposed.

See also

• Dust Bowl
  Dust Bowl
  The Dust Bowl, or the Dirty Thirties, was a period of severe dust storms causing major ecological and agricultural damage to American and Canadian prairie lands from 1930 to 1936...
  
  
• Erosion
  Erosion
  Erosion is when materials are removed from the surface and changed into something else. It only works by hydraulic actions and transport of solids in the natural environment, and leads to the deposition of these materials elsewhere...
  
  
• Topsoil
  Topsoil
  Topsoil is the upper, outermost layer of soil, usually the top to . It has the highest concentration of organic matter and microorganisms and is where most of the Earth's biological soil activity occurs.-Importance:...
  
  
• Water conservation
  Water conservation
  Water conservation refers to reducing the usage of water and recycling of waste water for different purposes such as cleaning, manufacturing, and agricultural irrigation.- Water conservation :Water conservation can be defined as:...