How improper farming methodology and drought caused the catastrophic Dust Bowl Randi Mann Listen to The Weather Network's This Day in Weather History podcast on this topic, here. This Day In Weather History is a daily podcast by The Weather Network that features stories about people, communities, and events and how weather impacted them. On Friday, May 11, 1934, tons of topsoil blew from the Great Plains region of the United States all the way to New York, Boston, and Atlanta. This was an event associated with the Dust Bowl. "A farmer and his two sons during a dust storm in Cimarron County, Oklahoma, April 1936. Iconic photo taken by Arthur Rothstein." Courtesy of Wikipedia