According to S.A. Olsness’ diaries, if the weather in North Dakota up to this timein the 1930s seemed bizarre, 1934 was to surpass the four years before it.  The wind and dust storms continued through January into April where S.A. ironically commented on April 18: “Winds howling success with northwest dirt storm, soil drifts.”

On April 19 he wrote “desert-like dust fills the air;” and on April 22, 1934, he

also described the dust as “Egyptian darkness.”  The months May through August of 1934 experienced more of the same though seemingly worse when S.A. wrote descriptions such as:  “earth cryeth for rain, everlasting fire, crops near total failure, extreme heat, scorching day, eternal heat.”

By this time, the weather and economic conditions had devastated many North Dakota farmers, S.A. wrote Oct. 1, 1934: “Records show 140,000 acres of farm taken over by foreclosure by North Dakota bank.”  The winds continued, things went from bad to worse, and yet S.A.’s humor remained. 

On Oct. 6, 1934, “Verily the wind blew so fast and furious yesterday that it finished in one day what usually lasts three days!” S.A. ended his journaling the last day of December in 1934 with the following:

“…weather which is the outstanding freak feature of the year.  I have seen several arid seasons in North Dakota such as 1889, 1890, 1900 and 1910 but never anything to equal to this.  For the Bismarck district, the annual, normal precipitation should be 16.22 [inches], while 1934 shows only 8.55 or half normal – crop failure nearly total.  No feed, nor hay was raised in many sections of the state.” 

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