Massive tumbleweed storm brings highway to a halt
A Washington state trooper called it "tumblegeddon."
Drivers in Washington state are used to contending with rainy conditions, but a different sort of road hazard appeared this week: a freakish storm of tumbleweeds.
State Route 240 in eastern Washington shut down on New Year's Eve when a massive pile of wind-blow tumbleweeds inundated the roadway, trapping cars and a semitruck in piles of plants up to 30 feet (9 meters) high. If you've never met a tumbleweed in person, you might not realize how thorny and tough they can get. These aren't fluffy plants that just disintegrate.
Chris Thorson, public information officer for Washington State Patrol District 3, tweeted a video of workers clearing the spiky plants from around an abandoned car. Thorson dubbed the incident "tumblegeddon."
#tumblegeddon After 10 hours of SR 240 being closed last night on New Year’s Eve, it was opened around 0430 thanks to @WSDOT_East We still have one abandon car trapped in the tumbleweeds that was found at daylight, luckily no one was in it. pic.twitter.com/df7XbnqafE
— Trooper C. Thorson (@wspd3pio) January 1, 2020
The Washington State Department of Transportation was able to clear the road after 10 hours with the help of a snow plow, but continued to caution drivers on the conditions as of Wednesday. "Please take care if you choose to travel through this area as winds continue to move the tumbleweeds around," the agency tweeted.
Our crews are continuing to keep watch on SR 240 and the tumbleweed impacts there. They will be patrolling through this evening to help keep the road open to traffic. Please take care if you choose to travel through this area as winds continue to move the tumbleweeds around. pic.twitter.com/d6dlQPvESL
— WSDOT East (@WSDOT_East) January 1, 2020
While it sounds like the start of a low-budget horror movie franchise, this sort of "tumblegeddon" incident may become more common. Researchers at the University of California, Riverside released a study in 2019 that found giant invasive tumbleweeds are thriving in the Western US.
