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| Storm of Tumbleweeds Buries Cars, Terrifies Drivers and Astounds Police | |
| (about 7 hours later) | |
| In ghost towns and gunslinger movies, they drift in ones or twos, cast wherever the wind takes them. | In ghost towns and gunslinger movies, they drift in ones or twos, cast wherever the wind takes them. |
| Along a long stretch of road in Washington State, the tumbleweeds took over instead: more like monsters out of science fiction than lonely icons of the American West. | Along a long stretch of road in Washington State, the tumbleweeds took over instead: more like monsters out of science fiction than lonely icons of the American West. |
| On New Year’s Eve, hundreds of them tumbled over and onto a highway, State Route 240, covering a stretch three football fields long. In some places they piled up 30 feet high, trapping cars and trucks for hours. | On New Year’s Eve, hundreds of them tumbled over and onto a highway, State Route 240, covering a stretch three football fields long. In some places they piled up 30 feet high, trapping cars and trucks for hours. |
| By the end of the night, the authorities were calling it “Tumblegeddon.” | By the end of the night, the authorities were calling it “Tumblegeddon.” |
| “The accumulation was beyond belief,” said Trooper Chris Thorson of the Washington State Patrol, which began receiving 911 calls from stranded drivers around 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday. “I’ve worked here in southeastern Washington State for over 20 years. We always experience high winds and tumbleweeds rolling down the road, but I’ve never seen an accumulation like this before.” | “The accumulation was beyond belief,” said Trooper Chris Thorson of the Washington State Patrol, which began receiving 911 calls from stranded drivers around 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday. “I’ve worked here in southeastern Washington State for over 20 years. We always experience high winds and tumbleweeds rolling down the road, but I’ve never seen an accumulation like this before.” |
| Crews from the Washington State Department of Transportation used snowplows and their hands to clear the tumbleweeds, which amassed near the city of Richland, in a more arid part of the state about 200 miles southeast of Seattle. | Crews from the Washington State Department of Transportation used snowplows and their hands to clear the tumbleweeds, which amassed near the city of Richland, in a more arid part of the state about 200 miles southeast of Seattle. |
| Officials closed 20 miles of the highway so crews could clear the road. | Officials closed 20 miles of the highway so crews could clear the road. |
| It took 10 hours to move the tumbleweeds, Mr. Thorson said. Some people were stuck in their cars until midnight. | It took 10 hours to move the tumbleweeds, Mr. Thorson said. Some people were stuck in their cars until midnight. |
| “If you can imagine that way to ring in the New Year,” Mr. Thorson said. | “If you can imagine that way to ring in the New Year,” Mr. Thorson said. |
| The highway is in a flat, wide-open area close to the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, which is known as one of the sites of the Manhattan Project and where plutonium was produced to help build the atom bomb. | The highway is in a flat, wide-open area close to the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, which is known as one of the sites of the Manhattan Project and where plutonium was produced to help build the atom bomb. |
| “Some people are calling them nuclear tumbleweeds,” Mr. Thorson said. | “Some people are calling them nuclear tumbleweeds,” Mr. Thorson said. |
| The reality is the region, which is close to the Columbia River and has a desert climate, is known for tumbleweeds and whipping dust, said David Mosley, a spokesman for the state’s Department of Transportation. | The reality is the region, which is close to the Columbia River and has a desert climate, is known for tumbleweeds and whipping dust, said David Mosley, a spokesman for the state’s Department of Transportation. |
| “We’ve had issues in the past but we’ve never seen them come this quick,” he said. “We’re talking a real quick overnight stacking.” | “We’ve had issues in the past but we’ve never seen them come this quick,” he said. “We’re talking a real quick overnight stacking.” |
| Tumbleweeds have been part of the American landscape for over a century, but the most widely known kind is actually an invasive species known as Russian thistle. They can grow to a meter tall, and about as wide. | Tumbleweeds have been part of the American landscape for over a century, but the most widely known kind is actually an invasive species known as Russian thistle. They can grow to a meter tall, and about as wide. |
| The plant is thought to have arrived in the United States when American farmers, looking for inexpensive flax seed in the 1870s, bought contaminated seeds from Russia and inadvertently planted the thistle, which responded well to the dry, windy conditions of the West, said Jeffrey Dukes, a professor of forestry and natural resources at Purdue University. | The plant is thought to have arrived in the United States when American farmers, looking for inexpensive flax seed in the 1870s, bought contaminated seeds from Russia and inadvertently planted the thistle, which responded well to the dry, windy conditions of the West, said Jeffrey Dukes, a professor of forestry and natural resources at Purdue University. |
| Tumbleweeds are resilient plants that spread their seeds once they are snapped off at their stems and rolling along the ground, Mr. Dukes said. | Tumbleweeds are resilient plants that spread their seeds once they are snapped off at their stems and rolling along the ground, Mr. Dukes said. |
| Incidents like the one in Washington typically occur when a dense patch of tumbleweeds ripen and break off at the same time there are high winds, he said. | Incidents like the one in Washington typically occur when a dense patch of tumbleweeds ripen and break off at the same time there are high winds, he said. |
| “It’s unusual when something like this happens, but we do hear stories like this from time to time,” he said. | “It’s unusual when something like this happens, but we do hear stories like this from time to time,” he said. |
| In 1989, streets and houses in Mobridge, S.D., were buried under tumbleweeds tossed by 50-mile-an-hour winds. And in 2014, massive mounds of tumbleweeds moved across southeastern Colorado with such force that they knocked over fences and piled up against homes. | In 1989, streets and houses in Mobridge, S.D., were buried under tumbleweeds tossed by 50-mile-an-hour winds. And in 2014, massive mounds of tumbleweeds moved across southeastern Colorado with such force that they knocked over fences and piled up against homes. |
| In Washington, Mr. Thorson said the problem began after the tumbleweeds rolled down the 40-foot berms along the highway and onto the road. Soon, there were so many that drivers had a difficult time seeing the highway and pulled over. | In Washington, Mr. Thorson said the problem began after the tumbleweeds rolled down the 40-foot berms along the highway and onto the road. Soon, there were so many that drivers had a difficult time seeing the highway and pulled over. |
| That was a smart safety move, Mr. Thorson said, but also one that left the tumbleweeds, which would normally roll out onto the desert, with no way off the road. | That was a smart safety move, Mr. Thorson said, but also one that left the tumbleweeds, which would normally roll out onto the desert, with no way off the road. |
| They began piling up around the stopped cars, quickly burying the vehicles, including a tractor-trailer. | They began piling up around the stopped cars, quickly burying the vehicles, including a tractor-trailer. |
| One car was buried for eight hours, Mr. Thorson said. | One car was buried for eight hours, Mr. Thorson said. |
| “Luckily, no one was in it,” he said. | “Luckily, no one was in it,” he said. |