It resulted in 5 deaths and $40 million in damages (does not include subsequent agricultural losses).
Also, since Bakersfield did not have a direct feed to national news broadcast, no one outside of the area knew the severity of the situation.
Farther north in the valley, Fresno was having typical December rain.
[1] By the afternoon of December 21, people began to see the damage from the dust storm.
[4] After several days, the roads were reopened and news reports started leaving the valley.
Over 25 million cubic feet (710,000 m3) of topsoil from grazing land alone was moved.
There had been a drought in the region for several years, which caused the ground to be dry.
Cotton had recently been plowed under (end of the season) but the winter crop had not taken root yet.
Over the Great Basin, which is located in Nevada and Idaho, the air was very cold and heavy (high pressure).
A very strong low pressure system was approaching the northwest coast of California.