NPR / KCRW - A giant tumbleweed roughly the size of a Volkswagen beetle was spotted hurtling its way down a four-lane road in California this week.
The jaunty brown bundle of brush was captured on video and posted on Tuesday on X, formerly known as Twitter, where it has gathered a number of fans who have compared it to a giant hairball, belly lint gone wild, and the critters from the eponymously named 1986 sci-fi horror movie.
Experts say there is more tumbleweed tumult in our futures. A 2019 study from the University of California, Riverside, found that a new species of gigantic tumbleweeds — Salsola ryanii — that can grow up to 6 feet tall, grows more vigorously than others. They also say it's likely to expand its territory as a result of climate change.