I've been thinking of running a pen & paper RPG set in prohibition-era America, and the overlap between that and the dustbowl is too interesting to pass up. I know the dust storms would reduce visibility dramatically, but I'm curious how dangerous they were to stand in and how long they would typically last. Thanks in advance!
Just a book recommendation, "The Worst Hard Time" by Timothy Egan. He used a lot of eyewitness accounts and contemporary reports as well as photos, art, even a film, to aid in his examination of the dust bowl. His descriptions of the dust storms were very vivid.
America: The Story of Us miniseries from history channel covers the dust storms pretty well, from what I recall the storms were around 200 miles wide in the Midwest, and generated huge amount of energy from the static electricity with the dust. The winds blew the storms at about 65mph.