What lead up to the dust bowl and its huge dust storms?
drought killed off plant life, leaving soil uncovered
a volcanic eruption blew ash into air
excessive surface irrigation caused water erosion
earthquakes caused large rocks to crumbled
i wanna say the first answer - drought killed off plant life, leaving soil uncovered. dust storms can't happen unless there is a huge amount of land that is uncovered and has a lot of soil and dirt and dust.