Ambushed: 15ft tumbleweeds trap drivers and force Washington state road closure
Source: Guardian
Mobile plants forced authorities to close a highway in both directions for hours in Washington state on New Years Eve
Associated Press in West Richland, Washington state
Thu 2 Jan 2020 02.08 EST
Unlucky drivers in Washington state saw in the new year trapped under a glut of 15ft tumbleweeds, after the desiccated but mobile plants forced authorities to close a highway in both directions.
The Washington state patrol announced via Twitter at around 6.30pm local time on New Years Eve that drivers on State Route 240 near West Richland should use alternative routes.
Trooper Sarah Clasen told KAPP-KVEW vehicles were trapped in a pile of tumbleweeds that were up to 15ft (4.57m) tall.
The state department of transportation used snow plows to clear the scene, a process trooper Chris Thorson said took about 10 hours. The road opened again at around 4.30am, well into 2020.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jan/01/tumbleweeds-trap-drivers-force-road-closure-washington
Tumbleweed invasion traps cars and truck on US highway video
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2020/jan/02/tumbleweed-invasion-traps-cars-and-truck-on-us-highway-video
sprinkleeninow
(20,268 posts)ansible
(1,718 posts)They can be quite sturdy enough to build a structure in, and the city wasn't too happy about having to clear it out when they kicked him out and arrested him.
Judi Lynn
(160,649 posts)Chandler, Arizona's Tumbleweed Christmas Tree:
Albuquerque, New Mexico
~ ~ ~
To Mars with Tumbleweed
20. December 2018
From school to the museum, and off on a space mission. With the support of voestalpine BÖHLER Aerospace GmbH, the Mars rover Tumbleweed will be able to investigate the red planet.
Tumbleweed is an unusual space project in every way: it is an idea thought up only by school pupils, includes a complete research facility, and is already part of a museum exhibit, even prior to its first mission.
The idea for Mars
The start of the journey into space began with the first prototype of the Mars rover. It won pupils at Viennas Sir Carl Popper School an international space prize in 2017. The idea was to construct a discovery robot in tumbleweed form which would be driven by the winds on Mars, allowing it to investigate large areas of the planet.
More:
https://www.voestalpine.com/blog/en/mobility/aerospace/to-mars-with-tumbleweed/
Kid Berwyn
(14,992 posts)lagomorph777
(30,613 posts)But I loved The Prisoner!
Southern Blueneck
(75 posts)But rising sea levels and increasingly-monstrous wildfires will be no problem at all. Isn't that right, Mr. Inhofe?
Judi Lynn
(160,649 posts)He may want to look at it sometime to remind himself there ever was snow on the planet.
He's someone who will NEVER be missed anywhere, by anyone.
Welcome to D.U., Southern Blueneck.
Southern Blueneck
(75 posts)And you're 100% right about Idiot Inhofe. The sad part is that his denialist ass will be dead before the Truly Serious Shit gets to this country.
Submariner
(12,511 posts)and get trapped in huge piles behind security fencing. A nuclear technician would then scan it with a geiger counter before the uncontaminated weeds are burned or released to continue blowing away across the desert. The tumbleweeds would slam into the work truck so hard it would scratch the paint.
I grew up thinking tumbleweeds were a Texas thing because I saw them on Gene Autry and Hopalong Cassidy TV shows. I never thought it would exist at the high latitude of eastern WA state.
left-of-center2012
(34,195 posts)I live in New Mexico and never heard of our tumble weeds being referred to as "mobile plants".
Must be a British 'thing'.
Also, I'm surprised Washington state has tumbleweeds.
Tikki
(14,560 posts)Pretty much where the tumbleweed article is talking about.
Tikki
Cassidy
(202 posts)It is not native to Texas, Arizona, Washington, or anywhere else in North America. It is thought to have arrived in a contaminated shipment of flax seed that arrived in South Dakota around 1870. The genus is Kali. Every time I see one, it is a reminder of the destruction human ignorance hath wrought.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kali_tragus