May The SCS publishes a soil conservation district law, which, if passed by the states, would allow farmers to set up their own districts to enforce soil conservation practices for five-year periods. One of the few grassroots organizations set up by the New Deal still in operation today, the soil conservation district program recognized that new farming methods needed to be accepted and enforced by the farmers on the land rather than bureaucrats in Washington.
The project calls for large-scale planting of trees across the Great Plains, stretching in a mile wide zone from Canada to northern Texas, to protect the land from erosion. Native trees, such as red cedar and green ash, are planted along fence rows separating properties, and farmers and workers from the Civilian Conservation Corps are paid to plant and cultivate them. The project is estimated to cost 75 million dollars over a period of 12 years.
When disputes arise over funding sources the project was considered to be a long-term strategy, and therefore ineligible for emergency relief funds , FDR transfers the program to the WPA , where the project had limited success. However, the drought continues. During the next few years, with the coming of World War II, the country is pulled out of the Depression and the plains once again become golden with wheat. Discover the fascinating story of Elizebeth Smith Friedman, the groundbreaking cryptanalyst who helped bring down gangsters and break up a Nazi spy ring in South America.
Her work helped lay the foundation for modern codebreaking today. I n the summer of , hundreds of wildfires raged across the Northern Rockies. By the time it was all over, more than three million acres had burned and at least 78 firefighters were dead.
It was the largest fire in American history. The Dust Bowl prompted the largest migration in American history; by , 2. April 14, , dawned clear across the plains. Then a huge black cloud appeared on the horizon, approaching fast. A Kansas wheat farmer witnessed the searing drought and relentless winds that crippled the southern Great Plains during the s. Daily Weather Maps , 15 April This is an image of a typical monthly report form circa Source: The National Archives.
Dust and sand heaped up against fence windbreak. McDonald, Misc. Publication No. Figure 2. Dust buried farms and equipment, killed livestock, and caused human death and misery during the height of the Dust Bowl years. In: "Monthly Weather Review," June , p. Photo 1 of sequence. Garden City at p. Note street lights and compare to photo 2 to orient picture.
Public Health Service, Reprint No,. Photo 2 of sequence. Garden City approximately 15 minutes later after dust storm blotted out the sun. Street lights are on allowing orientation of picture. Boren Blvd. Suite Norman, OK Comments? Please Contact Us. Please try another search. Multiple locations were found. Please select one of the following:.
Location Help. Customize Your Weather. They essentially became a desert. In fact, in many cases there were several years in a row with less than 10 inches of precipitation. Figure 4 is a map of the number of years with less than 10 inches of precipitation during the to time period. Even during the longest droughts, there are some periods of increased moisture.
So even though the s as a whole were very dry, it would be reasonable to expect at least a few wet years mixed in with all the dry ones.
But in the 30s, almost every year had less precipitation than normal. Figure 5 is a map of the total number of below normal years in this time period. Notice that some areas were below normal all 11 years. As mentioned previously, it would be reasonable to expect a few wet years mixed in with all the dry years of the s. But even the wet years were not very wet, so the region was not able to take advantage of some very wet periods to recuperate from all of the extremely dry years.
The dry years were intensely dry, but the wet years were not nearly as intensely wet. As can be seen by the data presented above, the dry years of the s were extremely dry, and there were no extremely wet years to help the land recuperate. With this very dry pattern lasting for a decade or more, the s proved to be the most difficult time to be a farmer in the High Plains!
Since the year , parts of the region have once again turned to a drier than normal pattern. And although it is very hard to predict the future precipitation over the span of several years, a comparison of the current dry period with the s dry period can be made.
The dryness this decade has not been as widespread as in the 30s. Figure 7 is a map of the precipitation departures from normal in terms of a percentage of normal for to The driest years of this current decade have also not been nearly as intensely dry as the dry years of the 30s. Figure 8 is a map of the departure from normal in terms of a percentage of normal total precipitation divided by normal precipitation for the single driest year in the to time period.
Another measure which shows how this decade has not been as intensely dry as the s is to look at how many years were not only dry, but extremely dry. Very few locations have seen less than 10 inches of precipitation in a single year this decade, and no location has experienced these desert-like conditions more than once. Figure 9 is a map of the number of years with less than 10 inches of precipitation during the to time period.
Another factor to consider is how many years this decade which have seen below normal precipitation. The comparison here once again shows that not as many years were dry this decade as were in the s, thus the cumulative effect of the dry period has not been as intense. Figure 10 is a map of the total number of below normal years from to Notice that no areas have been below normal all 9 years this decade.
The wet years this decade have also been more significantly wet, helping to reduce the cumulative effect of the long term dryness. There have only been a few areas which have not had a very wet year, and most areas have had extremely wet years which more than compensate for the driest year this decade.
Figure 11 is a map of the departure from normal in terms of a percentage of normal for the single wettest year in the to time period.
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