Dust storms in the Borderland are nothing new, but the severity of the weather events and their frequency have worsened, statistics note.
Thomas Gill, professor of Environmental Science and Engineering at the University of Texas at El Paso, noted that the recent dust storms have underscored a paradigm shift in how they impact the city.
According to Gill, a bevy of inauspicious milestones have already been reached with these storms, which started in the region in March. They include:
What have been the largest dust storms in history?
Black Sunday: On April 14, 1935, Texas and Oklahoma faced the infamous Dust Bowl. Conditions exacerbated by record drought across the nation and high winds led to dust storms on unprecedented levels.
Data from the National Centers for Environmental Information noted that 300,000 tons of topsoil were displaced from the prairie area. That was part of a series of dust storms that impacted western Kansas, eastern Colorado, northeastern New Mexico, and the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles.
The destruction caused by the dust storms, and especially by the storm on Black Sunday, killed multiple people and was the catalyst for the Soil Conservation Act of 1936 by the federal government.
The Southern San Joaquin Valley Dust Storm: Also known as the Great Bakersfield Dust Storm of 1977, it started in the late evening on Dec. 19, 1977, and ended in the afternoon of Dec. 21. It resulted in five deaths and $40 million in damages.
Historic records by the NCEI noted that over 25 million cubic feet of topsoil from grazing land alone was moved. Wind was measured at 192 miles per hour in areas of California. In the foothills of the state, the wind was measured at 189 miles per hour.
Texas Dust Storms of 1965: In what was considered the most severe dust storm in recent Texas history, Lubbock saw wind gusts up to 75 miles per hour with dust blowing as high as 31,000 feet. Reports stated the rain gauge at Reese Air Force Base in Lubbock contains 3 inches of fine sand.
Visibility was reduced to 100 yards. Another dust storm occurred in 1977 and destroyed millions of dollars worth of winter wheat and injured 20 people in El Paso. While the 1965 dust storm was blamed on severe drought conditions, another similar drought happened in 1970.
Kristian Jaime is the top story reporter for the El Paso Times and is reachable at Kjaime@elpasotimes.com.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Timeline: El Paso faces record dust storms in 2025, worst since 1936 Dust Bowl
Reporting by Kristian Jaime, El Paso Times / El Paso Times
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