How Can a Large, Sudden Drop in Hash Rate Lead to a Temporary Mining ‘Windfall’?

If a large number of miners suddenly go offline, the network hash rate drops significantly. However, the difficulty adjustment only occurs after 2,016 blocks.

In the period before the adjustment, the difficulty remains high while the competition is low. This means the remaining miners have a much higher probability of finding a block at the current, high reward rate, leading to a temporary increase in their individual profitability, or a 'windfall'.