Hurricane-force winds caused a massive pile of tumbleweeds to bury several houses in central Montana on Tuesday.
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AccuWeather shared a video on X, formerly Twitter on Wednesday that showed several houses in Great Falls, Montana, buried under massive piles of tumbleweeds. A tumbleweed is a plant that breaks away from its roots towards the end of summer and is then blown by the wind. The tumbleweeds covered the houses in Montana on Tuesday after 95-mile-per-hour winds blew through the area.
Tumbleweeds, also known as Russian thistle seeds, are native to Russia and arrived in the U.S. in 1873 when the seeds contaminated a shipment of flaxseeds. The plant spreads easily, given that it can travel for miles across flat terrain. The National History Museum said tumbleweeds can be found in every U.S. state except for Alaska and Florida. Each tumbleweed can produce up to 250,000 seeds, contributing to their invasive nature as winds blow them for miles.
On Tuesday, so many tumbleweeds clustered in a Montana neighborhood that some of the houses were buried.
“Peek-a-boo! Houses in Montana are hidden under towering walls of tumbleweeds as strong winds up to 95mph blow through the region,” AccuWeather posted with the video on Wednesday morning.
The video depicts the dry, brown tumbleweeds clustering around several one-story homes. One of the homes has nearly been buried completely by the tumbleweeds. The house’s eaves were barely visible over the tumbleweed mountain.
The video has been viewed more than 32,000 times as of Wednesday afternoon.
Tumbleweeds may appear harmless, but the plant can cause myriad problems and even pose dangerous hazards to people. AccuWeather senior meteorologist Carl Erickson told Newsweek that the plants can cause issues, particularly when they cluster in piles in the middle of the road.
“If they are prevented from tumbling along and they all pile up, they could pose some structural barriers with that and obstruct streets or corridors,” Erickson said.
In 2018, residents of Victorville, California, had to call city authorities to help after tumbleweeds buried their house following 50-mile-per-hour winds. In 2019, officials warned of a new invasive species of tumbleweed that can reach six feet in height that was spreading across California. In January 2020, so many tumbleweeds blew across a highway in Washington State and closed the road for 10 hours after burying drivers in tumbleweed piles that reached up to 30 feet high.
Tumbleweeds also can contribute to wildfires, as the dry plant is easily ignitable and can then spread flames as it is blown along by the wind. One user wrote about this danger when responding to AccuWeather’s post about the towering wall of tumbleweeds.
“Oh, that’s not a fire hazzard [sic] at ALL. Imagine an arsonist lighting one match. That whole neighborhood would go up in a blaze,” the user posted.