Look who just rolled into town!

Have you ever seen a tumbleweed? You might recognize the dry, ball-shaped plants from Western movies. Imagine a cowboy on a dusty street. A lone tumbleweed rolls by in the breeze.

Last Saturday, residents of South Jordan, Utah, awoke to a surprise. They didn’t see just one tumbleweed. They witnessed a total tumbleweed takeover.

Tumbleweeds blanketed the streets. They blocked doorways. They covered cars.

“It looked like these huge walls had been erected made of tumbleweed,” says Dawn Ramsey. She’s the mayor of South Jordan. “We had entire streets in some of our neighborhoods completely blocked. They wrapped around homes.”

On Tuesday, crews continued to remove the beachball-sized invaders. They used plows to clear the streets. Thirteen dumpster loads of brush went to local landfills.

Thankfully, tumbleweeds don’t cause much harm. They’re lightweight and easy to move. After all, the wind brought them there in the first place!

But what are tumbleweeds, exactly? They also go by the name “Russian thistle.” The Russian thistle is an invasive species. It’s native to—you guessed it—Russia. Experts suggest immigrants accidentally brought it to America. Russian thistle seeds may have “stowed away” in shipments of flax seeds.

These thistles don’t start as dried-up balls. They begin life as green plants that soak up rainwater. But eventually, they dry out. They detach from their roots. That’s when things get rolling.

Why did so many tumbleweeds blow into South Jordan? Rainy weather over the last few years caused lots of the plants to grow. Dry, heavy wind did the rest.

Utah locals are no stranger to tumbleweed swarms. But this one was “something to behold,” says Mayor Ramsey.

“I think every tumbleweed in the entire Salt Lake County made its way into South Jordan,” she says.

Tumbleweeds go wherever the wind takes them. That’s how the Bible describes people who don’t live in God’s truth. (Ephesians 4:14) But those who follow God have firm roots. They can’t be moved!

He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.  — Psalm 1:3