Great Bakersfield Dust Storm of 1977

Last updated
Great Bakersfield Dust Storm of 1977
DateDecember 19 - December 21
LocationSouthern San Joaquin Valley
Also known asSouthern San Joaquin Valley Dust Storm
Outcome$40 million in damages
Deaths5

The Great Bakersfield Dust Storm of 1977 (also known as the Southern San Joaquin Valley Dust Storm) was a severe dust storm in the Southern San Joaquin Valley, California. It started in the late evening on December 19, 1977 and ended in the afternoon of December 21. It resulted in 5 deaths and $40 million in damages (does not include subsequent agricultural losses).

Contents

Background

December 19 started like most cold winter days. At 11:00 pm, the temperature was 44 °F (7 °C) with a light northwestern wind. By 11:30 pm, the air began to warm and the wind increased. Dust began to restrict visibility. Electrical power became sporadic throughout the city by early morning. [1] By 9:00 am school was cancelled, and parents were asked to pick up their children because of the concern that school buses might tip over in the wind. [2]

By late morning, the wind became a loud roar. Enough dust was in the air that it blocked out the sun. Roads into and out of the southern valley were closed. Only one TV station and two or three AM radio stations continued to have power and were able to broadcast. Also, since Bakersfield did not have a direct feed to national news broadcast, no one outside of the area knew the severity of the situation. [1]

Wind continued to blow throughout the afternoon and evening. Swamp coolers were blown off the roofs of buildings. Windows were shattering and store signs were blowing in the wind. It was described as if a twister was unrolled and blew up the valley in a sheet. Farther north in the valley, Fresno was having typical December rain. When the dust reached the rain, it turned into mud. It fell in sheets from the sky. [3]

People awoke the next morning to a dark sky. The wind had blown throughout the night and was continuing in the morning. Schools remained closed that day. By the afternoon, the wind began to subside, and the air started to clear. [1]

Aftermath

By the afternoon of December 21, people began to see the damage from the dust storm. The result was devastating. Trees, fences, and swamp coolers had blown down throughout the region. Below grade freeways, canals, and creeks were buried. Dirt had piled up on the south side of the buildings. Dust had seeped into cracks and crevices of buildings, filling the interior with a layer of dust. [4] After several days, the roads were reopened and news reports started leaving the valley. People also started digging out and cleaning up. By spring, not all of the canals and creeks were cleared. As a result, the rain caused them to flood. [1]

The storm resulted in five deaths and $40 million in damage. Over 25 million cubic feet (710,000 m3) of topsoil from grazing land alone was moved. Wind was measured at 192 miles per hour (309 km/h) in Arvin (southeast of Bakersfield). [5] In the foothills, the wind was measured at 189 miles per hour (304 km/h). In the mountain passes, it was 199 miles per hour (320 km/h). [6]

Cause

The great dust storm was caused by a number of events. There had been a drought in the region for several years, which caused the ground to be dry. Cotton had recently been plowed under (end of the season) but the winter crop had not taken root yet. This caused the soil to be loose. [1]

The high winds were also caused by a series of events. Over the Great Basin, which is located in Nevada and Idaho, the air was very cold and heavy (high pressure). A very strong low pressure system was approaching the northwest coast of California. A mercury reading of 0.10 inHg (3.4 hPa)of pressure gradient force (difference of pressure between two points) is typically needed for a 12-mile-per-hour (19 km/h) northwestern wind. That day, the reading was 0.60 inHg (20 hPa). [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hurricane Opal</span> Category 4 Atlantic hurricane in 1995

Hurricane Opal was a large and powerful Category 4 hurricane that caused severe and extensive damage along the northern Gulf Coast of the United States in October 1995. The fifteenth named storm, ninth hurricane and strongest tropical cyclone of the unusually active 1995 Atlantic hurricane season, Opal developed from the interaction of a tropical wave and a low-pressure area near the Yucatán Peninsula on September 27 as Tropical Depression Seventeen. The depression crossed the Yucatán Peninsula and intensified into a tropical storm on September 30. Opal intensified into a hurricane on October 2 after entering the Gulf of Mexico. The cyclone turned northeastward and strengthened significantly. By October 4, Opal was an intense 150 mph (240 km/h), Category 4 hurricane. With a minimum pressure of 916 mbar (hPa), Hurricane Opal was the most intense category 4 Atlantic hurricane on record. However, the cyclone abruptly weakened to a low-end Category 3 hurricane prior to making landfall on the Florida Panhandle near Pensacola later that day. The storm quickly unraveled as it moved inland and became extratropical on October 5. The remnants of Opal moved northward and dissipated over Ontario the following day.

The heat wave of 1995 derecho series are a series of derechos that occurred from July 11 through July 15, 1995, primarily impacting areas from Montana to the US Midwest, and the Great Lakes Region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hurricane Allen</span> Category 5 Atlantic hurricane in 1980

Hurricane Allen was a rare and extremely powerful Cape Verde hurricane that affected the Caribbean, eastern and northern Mexico, and southern Texas in August 1980. The first named storm and second tropical cyclone of the 1980 Atlantic hurricane season, it was the fifth most intense Atlantic hurricane on record in terms of barometric pressure, behind Hurricane Rita, the 1935 Labor Day hurricane, Hurricane Gilbert and Hurricane Wilma. It was one of the few hurricanes to reach Category 5 status on the Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale on three occasions, and spent more time as a Category 5 than all but two other Atlantic hurricanes. Allen is the only hurricane in the recorded history of the Atlantic basin to achieve sustained winds of 190 mph, thus making it the strongest Atlantic hurricane by wind speed. Until Hurricane Patricia in 2015, these were also the highest sustained winds in the Western Hemisphere. Hurricane Allen was also the second strongest tropical cyclone to hit the Gulf of Mexico, with the strongest being Hurricane Rita.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hurricane Luis</span> Category 4 Atlantic hurricane in 1995

Hurricane Luis was a long lived and powerful Category 4 hurricane. It was the strongest hurricane to make landfall and the third-most intense hurricane recorded during the 1995 Atlantic hurricane season. The storm, along with Humberto, Iris, and Karen, was one of four simultaneous tropical systems in the Atlantic basin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Columbus Day storm of 1962</span> Pacific Northwest windstorm

The Columbus Day storm of 1962 was a Pacific Northwest windstorm that struck the West Coast of Canada and the Pacific Northwest coast of the United States on October 12, 1962. Typhoon Freda was the twenty-eighth tropical depression, the twenty-third tropical storm, and the eighteenth typhoon of the 1962 Pacific typhoon season. Freda originated from a tropical disturbance over the Northwest Pacific on September 28. On October 3, the system strengthened into a tropical storm and was given the name Freda, before becoming a typhoon later that day, while moving northeastward. The storm quickly intensified, reaching its peak as a Category 3-equivalent typhoon on October 5, with maximum 1-minute sustained winds of 115 mph (185 km/h) and a minimum central pressure of 948 millibars (28.0 inHg). Freda maintained its intensity for another day, before beginning to gradually weaken, later on October 6. On October 9, Freda weakened into a tropical storm, before transitioning into an extratropical cyclone on the next day. On October 11, Freda turned eastward and accelerated across the North Pacific, before striking the Pacific Northwest on the next day. On October 13, the cyclone made landfall on Washington and Vancouver Island, and then curved northwestward. Afterward, the system moved into Canada and weakened, before being absorbed by another developing storm to the south on October 17.

The Great Gale of 1880 was an intense extratropical cyclone that impacted the Northwest United States on January 9, 1880.

The greatest snowstorm, and perhaps overall worst storm in SW Washington and NW Oregon history, was that dubbed the ‘Storm King’ event of January 9, 1880.... Little data is available for the so-called ‘Storm King’ of January 1880, but it appears the storm center came ashore just south of Astoria, Oregon, on January 9th when a barometric pressure of 28.45” was registered in the town. Portland bottomed out at 28.56.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1982 Pacific hurricane season</span> Hurricane season in the Pacific Ocean

The 1982 Pacific hurricane season was, at the time, the most active Pacific hurricane season on record, with 23 named storms. Of those, 12 became hurricanes, with 5 intensifying into major hurricanes. The season officially started on May 15 in the eastern Pacific basin and June 1 in the central Pacific basin. The season in both basins ended on November 30. These dates conventionally delimit the period during which most tropical cyclones form in these regions of the Pacific Ocean. The first tropical cyclone of the season, Tropical Storm Aletta, formed on May 20, and the final one of the season, Hurricane Iwa, dissipated on November 25. A strengthening El Niño that year fueled the season's above normal activity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North American blizzard of 1996</span> Severe noreaster in January 1996

The North American blizzard of 1996 was a severe nor'easter that paralyzed the United States East Coast with up to 4 feet (1.2 m) of wind-driven snow from January 6 to January 8, 1996. The City University of New York reported that the storm "dropped 20 inches of snow, had wind gusts of 50 mph and snow drifts up to 8 feet high." This storm was a classic example of a nor'easter, but the storm would not have been as historically significant without the presence of the arctic high pressure system located to the north of New York. It was followed by another storm, an Alberta Clipper, on January 12, then unusually warm weather and torrential rain which caused rapid melting and river flooding in the Northeast Floods later that month. Along with the March Superstorm of 1993 and the January 2016 United States blizzard, it is one of only three snowstorms to receive the top rating of 5, or "Extreme", on the Northeast Snowfall Impact Scale (NESIS).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hurricane Diana (1984)</span> Category 4 Atlantic hurricane in 1984

Hurricane Diana was the first major hurricane to hit the East Coast of the United States in nearly 20 years. Diana was the ninth tropical cyclone, fourth named storm, first hurricane, and first major hurricane of the 1984 Atlantic hurricane season. It caused moderate damage in North Carolina while it looped offshore and after it made landfall as a Category 2 hurricane. Forming on September 8, Diana moved northward and wandered across North Carolina for a couple of days during mid-September, dropping heavy rainfall. Once it left the state and accelerated east-northeast, Diana quickly evolved into an extratropical cyclone. Watches and warnings were issued for the storm along the East coast between eastern Florida and Virginia. Damages to the United States totaled $65.5 million. Three indirect fatalities were caused by the cyclone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tropical Storm Charley (1998)</span> Atlantic tropical storm in 1998

Tropical Storm Charley was the third named storm of the 1998 Atlantic hurricane season. Charley was the first of two tropical storms to make landfall in Texas during that season. The storm originated with a tropical wave that moved off the West African coast on August 9. The wave moved generally west-northwestward, producing occasional bursts of convection, finally arriving in the southeastern Gulf of Mexico by August 19, when animated satellite images began to indicate it had possibly developed a low pressure centre. Hurricane Hunter investigations into the system the next day revealed that this was not the case. The system lingered for two days, lacking an organized low level centre of circulation until early on the morning of August 21, when advisories were initiated on the tropical depression, 185 miles (298 km) east of Brownsville, Texas. The depression became a tropical storm later that day, as it moved steadily west-northwestward, strengthening, and then weakening again before making landfall the next morning around Port Aransas, Texas. The storm moved slowly inland and finally dissipated on the morning of the August 24 near the town of Del Rio, Texas.

East Bakersfield is a region in Bakersfield, California directly east of downtown. The region was formerly known as the town of Sumner, which was later incorporated and renamed Kern City. It is primarily a mixture of residential and commercial developments. It also contains a small business district centered on the intersection of Baker and Sumner streets. Census data is provided on the right for the time period when the region was an independent town and city. It is part of the Bakersfield urban area of almost 500,000 people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hurricane Boris (1996)</span> Category 1 Pacific hurricane in 1996

Hurricane Boris was the second of three storms to impact the Pacific coast of Mexico in June and July 1996. The fourth tropical cyclone and second hurricane of the 1996 Pacific hurricane season, Boris formed out of a tropical wave roughly 250 mi (400 km) south of the Gulf of Tehuantepec on June 27. The storm gradually intensified, becoming a tropical storm the following day and then hurricane on June 29. As the storm neared landfall, an eye developed and Boris reached its peak intensity with winds of 90 mph (140 km/h). Shortly after, the hurricane made landfall along the south coast of Mexico, between Lázaro Cárdenas and Acapulco, at this intensity. Boris quickly weakened following its landfall, becoming a tropical depression roughly 18 hours later. The remnants of the system persisted until July 1, at which time it dissipated just offshore the Mexican coastline. Boris caused heavy flooding in southern Mexico that resulted in ten fatalities; however, a damage estimate is unknown.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hurricane Rick (2009)</span> Category 5 Pacific hurricane in 2009

Hurricane Rick was the third-most intense Pacific hurricane on record and the second-most intense tropical cyclone worldwide in 2009, only behind Typhoon Nida. Developing off the southern coast of Mexico on October 15, Rick traversed an area with favorable environmental conditions, favoring rapid intensification, allowing it to become a hurricane within 24 hours of being declared a tropical depression. An eye began to form during the afternoon of October 16; once fully formed, the storm underwent another period of rapid strengthening. During the afternoon of October 17, the storm attained Category 5 status on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale. Several hours later, Rick attained its peak intensity as the third-strongest Pacific hurricane on record with winds of 180 mph (290 km/h) and a barometric pressure of 906 mbar.

The March 2010 nor'easter or St. Patrick's Day nor'easter was a powerful nor'easter that impacted the Northeastern United States and Eastern Canada from March 12–16, 2010, resulting in at least nine deaths. The slow-moving storm produced over 10 inches (25 cm) of rain in New England, causing widespread flooding of urban and low-lying areas. Winds of up to 70 miles per hour (110 km/h) snapped trees and power lines, resulting in over one million homes and businesses left without electricity. The storm also caused extensive coastal flooding and beach erosion. The nor'easter was the fifth major winter storm to impact the Mid-Atlantic and New England in the 2009–10 North American winter storm season.

Northeast Bakersfield is the northeast region of Bakersfield, California. It is roughly bounded by Panorama Drive and the Kern River to the north, Alfred Harrell Highway/Comanche Drive to the east, Edison Highway to the south, and Union Avenue to the west. The region of East Bakersfield is located within these boundaries but is usually not considered part of the Northeast. Instead, the Northeast wraps around the boundaries of East Bakersfield. Other boundaries are the city limits.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mechanics Bank Theater and Convention Center</span>

The Mechanics Bank Theater and Convention Center is a performing arts theater and convention facility located in Bakersfield, California. It is adjacent to the Mechanics Bank Arena.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bakersfield Department of Development Services</span>

The Bakersfield Department of Development Services is a department of the city of Bakersfield, California. The department enforces the city's building codes and land use policies. It also issues building permits, and give approval for new land development. It also provides inspections of new and existing buildings.

The Great Bakersfield Fire of 1889 was a conflagration in Bakersfield, California. The fire would burn for three hours and destroyed most of the town. In total, 196 buildings were destroyed, one man was killed and 1,500 people were homeless. The fire marked the transition of Bakersfield from a frontier town to a metropolitan city.

The 1991 Interstate 5 dust storm was a dust storm which occurred on November 29, 1991, along Interstate 5 (I-5) north of the city of Coalinga, California. The storm caused a 104-vehicle traffic collision on the highway which killed 17 people and injured 150.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hurricane Flossie (1995)</span> Category 1 Pacific hurricane in 1995


Hurricane Flossie was a tropical cyclone which impacted Mexico and Arizona in August 1995. The seventh tropical cyclone, sixth named storm and fourth hurricane of the 1995 Pacific hurricane season, Flossie formed out of a large circulation as a tropical depression on August 7. The tropical depression slowly moved westward, and strengthened into a tropical storm late on August 8, though it was not designated as Tropical Storm Flossie until August 9. Flossie turned more northwest and gradually strengthened, eventually reaching hurricane strength on August 10, and reached peak intensity 12 hours later. After this, Flossie turned westward and started to weaken, being downgraded to a tropical storm on August 12 and a tropical depression on August 13, before finally dissipating on August 14.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Boyd, Sean. 1977 Dust Storm: Indelible in my memory Archived 2011-07-25 at the Wayback Machine . The Bakersfield Californian. December 12, 2007. Accessed: 05-19-2011.
  2. Maynard, John. Bakersfield: A Centennial Portrait. Cherbo Publishing Group. Encino, California: 1997. ISBN   1-882933-19-2. Pages 89-90.
  3. Maynard, John. Bakersfield: A Centennial Portrait. Cherbo Publishing Group. Encino, California: 1997. ISBN   1-882933-19-2. Pages 90-92.
  4. Maynard, John. Bakersfield: A Centennial Portrait. Cherbo Publishing Group. Encino, California: 1997. ISBN   1-882933-19-2. Pages 90-93.
  5. California's Top 15 Weather Events of 1900s. National Weather Service. Accessed: 05-19-2011.
  6. Maynard, John. Bakersfield: A Centennial Portrait. Cherbo Publishing Group. Encino, California: 1997. ISBN   1-882933-19-2. Page 93.