A giant blot on a D.C.-area weather radar isn't rain — it's likely cicadas

It's not a flock of birds, it's not a rainstorm, it's ... a giant brood of cicadas.
The insects, you've probably heard (perhaps literally), have taken the greater Washington, D.C., area by storm these last few weeks. So much so, in fact, that they are the likely source of a giant blot that's showing up on a weather radar in Virginia, NBC Washington meteorologist Lauryn Ricketts and the National Weather Service report. Take a look at the jaw-dropping images below.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
Why Rikers Island will no longer be under New York City's control
The Explainer A 'remediation manager' has been appointed to run the infamous jail
-
California may pull health care from eligible undocumented migrants
IN THE SPOTLIGHT After pushing for universal health care for all Californians regardless of immigration status, Gov. Gavin Newsom's latest budget proposal backs away from a key campaign promise
-
Is Apple breaking up with Google?
Today's Big Question Google is the default search engine in the Safari browser. The emergence of artificial intelligence could change that.
-
Sea lion proves animals can keep a beat
speed read A sea lion named Ronan beat a group of college students in a rhythmic dance-off, says new study
-
Humans heal much slower than other mammals
Speed Read Slower healing may have been an evolutionary trade-off when we shed fur for sweat glands
-
Novel 'bone collector' caterpillar wears its prey
Speed Read Hawaiian scientists discover a carnivorous caterpillar that decorates its shell with the body parts of dead insects
-
Scientists find hint of alien life on distant world
Speed Read NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has detected a possible signature of life on planet K2-18b
-
Katy Perry, Gayle King visit space on Bezos rocket
Speed Read Six well-known women went into lower orbit for 11 minutes
-
Scientists map miles of wiring in mouse brain
Speed Read Researchers have created the 'largest and most detailed wiring diagram of a mammalian brain to date,' said Nature
-
Scientists genetically revive extinct 'dire wolves'
Speed Read A 'de-extinction' company has revived the species made popular by HBO's 'Game of Thrones'
-
Dark energy may not doom the universe, data suggests
Speed Read The dark energy pushing the universe apart appears to be weakening