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<br />Historical Perspectives on Colorado Drought <br /> <br /> <br />l <br /> <br />Early turn of the century drought <br /> <br />A severe but brief drought occurred 10 1890, particularly cast of the mountains, <br />[ollowed by a vcry wet year in 1891. Drought returned in 1893 with severe drought <br />occurring in 1894, again mosl pronounced over eastern Colorado. This statewide <br />drought produced a sustained and very severe drought over southwestern Colorado. <br />Worst drought on record occurred in the Durango area during this time <br /> <br />...Now the wind grew <br />strong and hard, <br />it worked al the rain crusl <br />in the com fields. <br /> <br />little by little the sky <br />was darkened by the mixing <br />dust, <br />and the wind felt over the <br />earth, <br />loosened the dust and <br />carried it away. <br /> <br />...from The Grapes of <br />Wrath. <br />written by John <br />Steinbeck <br /> <br />The major drought oflhe 20th century. in lenns of duration and spatial extent, is <br />considered to be the 19305 Dust Bowl drought that lasted up to 7 years in some areas <br />of the Great Plains. The 1930s Dust Bowl drought, memorialized in John Steinbeck's <br />novel. nit! Grapes of Wrath, was so severe, widespread. and lengthy that it resulted <br />in a mass migrallon of millions ofpcople from the Great Plains to the western U.S. in <br />search of jobs and better living conditions. <br /> <br />1950's <br /> <br />With the Dust Bowl of the '30's a \;,,;d memory, the stalcwidc drought ofthl' <br />spurred major dcvelopment of water storage facilities across the state. The <br />development of the Front Range water supply system may have been a product of the <br />fact that this drought was more scvere along the Front Range than in the 1930's. Its <br /> <br />Page 3 <br /> <br />- <br /> <br />1930's <br /> <br />Most widespread and longl'stlasting (and most famous) drought in Colorado <br />recorded history. Severe drought dcvelopl.-d in 1931 and peaked in 1934 and early <br />1935. Interrupted by heavy spring rains in 1935 and more widespread heavy rains in <br />1938. Culminatcd with onc more extremely dry year in 1939 when several stations <br />along the Front Range recorded the driest year in {20ih century recordedJ history. <br /> <br /> <br />s <br /> <br />950 <br /> <br />The Visionary Drought of the <br /> <br />HDR Engineering, Inc. <br />Printed on 30% post-coosumer recycled cootent paper <br /> <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />The Dust Bowl of the <br />