From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for March 15, 1989:

The previous day’s weather had reminded some older local residents of the Dust Bowl years. A wind storm originating in western Kansas had sent dust clouds across the state, turning Lawrence skies brown at about noon and causing conditions of extreme low visibility on local roads and highways. The wind had gusted as high as 62 mph at the Lawrence Municipal Airport, with top gusts reported at 59 mph at the Kansas University weather service station. The dust storm had cut visibility so much that a 159-mile stretch of I-70 west of Hays had been closed. “The older people said it was very similar to what it was like then (in the 1930s),” said Kansas Highway Patrol Trooper Douglas Griffiths in Norton. “If you can imagine a handful of dirt in your eyes, that was it…. That’s not an exaggeration.” Kansas City International Airport also been shut down for about 90 minutes at the height of the storm. Four grass fires had been reported in Douglas County, including one about six miles west of Baldwin that destroyed a barn at the Karl Niebrugge farm. Fire had also burned about 200 acres of land near 1200E and 900N in Wakarusa Township. A seven-day burn ban had been declared in the wake of the storm.