Careful, Cold Weather Means New Road Hazards In Lubbock

Everyone has an image of hot, dry, and windy days in Texas, but it's probably not accurate.

We've Seen It A Hundred Times

Sometimes in movies, it's a joke, and other times it's meant to show a lonely, desolate place where nothing is happening. I'm talking about a  tumbleweed slowly rolling by. The reality is that tumbleweeds rarely "slowly roll by". It is, in fact, the wind that dislodges them from their root system and sends them down the street. They are also in nearly every state, so Texas does not have an exclusive claim to tumbleweeds.

Winter Provides An Assist

Having a cold snap along with winds certainly speeds things along for tumbleweeds. Just like your grass dies in the winter, tumbleweeds generally snap off when it gets crispy outside and they begin their journey. How any of them are still around during the hotter months is beyond me.

Last Year Was Bad

Last year the City of Lubbock had such a huge tumbleweed problem that additional containers were opened in the city convenience centers for disposal. The problem lies in transport to such locations so many residents prefer to just squish them down in dumpsters when possible.

This Year May Be The Same

Judging from what I've seen so far, we may be experiencing another year of "a ton of tumbleweeds". They seem to be piling up in all of the usual places just waiting for disposable or a chance to spread their seeds and start the process all over again.

Don't Kill Yourself Avoiding Them

The consensus out there is that you should never swerve to avoid a tumbleweed. It's best to just blast through it. There are instances where they will stick under your car and extremely rare cases where the friction can cause them to catch on fire, but they are so rare, that it's just not worth it. You are far, far more likely to be in an accident trying to avoid a tumbleweed rather than just hitting it. It is also extremely rare for tumbleweeds to do any damage at all to your vehicle.