"Drought, Wind Create Dust Storms in Kansas"

"WICHITA, Kan. — Seemingly unrelenting winds and drought conditions have whipped up massive dust storms this week across the High Plains, but respite is near since the weather system that's to blame has moved east into the Great Lakes and Northeast, the National Weather Service said Wednesday.

Blowing dust is blamed for the zero-visibility conditions in central Kansas that caused a traffic accident in which a man died Monday. Stanton County schools in far western Kansas also cancelled classes and activities Tuesday. The wind is also affecting winter wheat by sucking up the little moisture that had been in fields.

Monday's dust storm was so large it covered most of Kansas, western Oklahoma, the Texas Panhandle and eastern Colorado, said weather service meteorologist Jeff Hutton in Dodge City. Tuesday's dust cloud was more localized, only found in some parts of Kansas."

Roxana Hegeman reports for the Associated Press April 30, 2014.

SEE ALSO:

"Arid Opening To 2014 Echoes Dust Bowl Spring in 1936" (Wichita Eagle)

"'Grapes of Wrath' Resonates as Heroic Tale of Human Struggle" (San Francisco Chronicle)