Dictionary

black blizzard en · NOUN

Meanings

1. A dust storm that kicks up large amounts of black soil, and blacks out the sun, typically one in the dustbowl region and time period (the central United States in the 1930s).
   • The storm was like a blizzard in its fury,—a black blizzard, with grit and dust for snow, and with field dirt for the drifts through which they drove. Eyes and ears were full of the gritty earth particles, and at times it seemed that they would suffocate. 1928, Bess Streeter Aldrich, A Lantern in Her Hand, page 136:
   • Only those who have been caught out in a "black blizzard" can have more than a faint conception of its terrors. When the soil has become finely pulverized by too much working over, by the action of water followed by wind, or, particularly, when the surface is blow dirt from a previous storm, the dust begins to blow with only a slight breeze. 1986, Lawrence Svobida, Farming the Dust Bowl: A First-hand Account from Kansas, page 123:

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