NWS Goodland Weather History

Public Information Statement
National Weather Service Goodland KS
500 AM MST Fri Feb 21 2025

...ON THIS DATE IN WEATHER HISTORY...

In 1935, winds between 50 and 60 mph produced a large dust storm,
one of the worst that hit the Tri State area during the Dust Bowl era. 
This was the first of three significant dust storms in three days.
Rural schools in Rawlins and Thomas counties were closed because
blowing dust was so thick that children could easily become lost on
their way to school. Schools in Atwood were dismissed early when
a dust cloud was viewed on the horizon. By the time the dust cloud
reached Leoti, the cloud was several thousand feet high and several
counties wide. The storm began in Goodland, Kansas, around 11 AM
and continued for 10 hours. Visibilities were near zero. Automobiles
crept slowly and pedestrians took their lives in their hands when crossing
streets. Porches and doorways contained buckets of fine dirt and people
found it difficult to breathe. The dust storm extended west all the way to
Limon, Colorado. People in Kit Carson, Colorado, used oil lamps to
illuminate the darkness in the middle of the day. Some drifts of dirt in
Cheyenne County, Colorado, were near 20 feet deep and covered trees.

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