Tumbleweeds pile up in front of Montana homes amid high winds
Mountainous heaps of tumbleweeds reached as high as rooftops, covered yards and sidewalks and spilled onto roadways, creating a scene that "shocked" one woman who lives in the neighborhood.
Towering walls of tumbleweeds piled up against houses and buried sidewalks as strong winds impacted Great Falls, Montana, on Oct. 17.
Tumbleweeds piled up into mountainous heaps against homes in the Great Falls area in central Montana on Tuesday, as high winds blasted the state. The mounds of bushy weeds reached as high as rooftops in the Eagles Crossing area, overwhelming driveways, sidewalks and front yards.
Great Falls resident Peyton Johnson, who lives in the affected neighborhood, told KRTV, a local TV station, that while tumbleweeds are not too unusual, she has never seen them pile up quite like they did on Tuesday.
"I was pretty shocked. I feel bad for these people; I don't know what they're going to do. Last summer, it kind of built up a little bit, but nothing like this," Johnson said.
The Great Falls Fire Rescue posted about the event on Facebook, pointing out that the weeds can become a fire hazard, especially amid dry conditions, and encouraging homeowners to bag up the tumbleweeds as soon as possible.
Tumbleweeds piled up in front of a home in the Great Falls area of central Montana on Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023, as high winds tore through the region. The weeds covered front yards and spilled over roadways. (Darrin Schreder Photography and Design via Storyful)
The strong winds that deposited the tumbleweeds in front of homes and sent them spilling over roadways were fueled ahead of an approaching cold front, according to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Dan Pydynowski, who added that "there was a lot of wind energy aloft" which was transported down to the surface.
The "moisture-starved front" triggered only a trace of precipitation in Great Falls, he explained. The westerly and west-northwesterly winds blew down off the higher terrain of the region, further enhancing the wind speeds, a common pattern in central Montana, Pydynowski said.
"Wind gusts were as high as 62 mph at the Great Falls International Airport but as high as 75 mph elsewhere in the state," AccuWeather Meteorologist and Social Media Producer Jesse Ferrell said.
The National Weather Service (NWS) had issued high wind warnings for central Montana on Tuesday. The warning explained that prolonged strong winds would create dangerous travel conditions across the area, particularly for high-profile vehicles.
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This is hardly the first time a community in the western United States was buried under tumbleweeds. Last October, parts of southern Colorado were left to dig out after winds pushed "an ocean of tumbleweeds" against homes, blocking some people from getting out.
And in April 2022, a town south of Salt Lake City in Utah was overrun by an invasion of tumbleweeds.
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