Imagine a snow storm with black snow.
An unusual phenomenon blankets Vermont.

On April 7, 1873, Vermonters were blanketed with an early spring snow storm. That's not particularly unusual in Vermont, unless, of course, the snow happens to be black.

The snow crystals for this particular storm became contaminated with large amounts of airborne dirt. The dirt came from drought and dust bowl conditions across the Great Plains, a weather phenomenon that had gone on for 13 long years. Kansas and Nebraska, in particular, had been parched and devastated.

Loose, dry earth from the Midwest was carried eastward at high altitudes by global wind currents, creating Vermont's freakish, black snow.

Image from the collections of Paul Dale.

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