Dust Storms in the Southern Great Plains

USING climatological data for the months of Sept-ember, October, November, and December, the number of dust storms at Big Spring, Texas can be estimated 12 months in advance. The technique will estimate the yearly number of dust storms within 4 days 56 percent of the time and will be within 8 days 82 per-cent of the time. A numerical rating system for individual dust storms was used to describe frequency and severity of individual storms. On an arbitrary scale of one to 10, storms with a rating of 6 or higher represented 11 percent of the hours with dust but contributed 55 percent of annual dust load at Big Spring.