Residents from Ohio to Indiana and Pennsylvania to Virginia have all been looking outside to the same odd sight.
Massive swarms of dragonflies have taken to the skies across several states.
So many that the blobs of them even showed up on weather radar.
“This is not rain being observed by radars across IN/OH/PA today,” the National Weather Service in Cleveland tweeted. “Care to take a guess as to what is traversing the region?”
This is not rain being observed by the radars across IN/OH/PA today. Care to take a guess as to what is traversing the region? pic.twitter.com/yRbgPfHBuN
— NWS Cleveland (@NWSCLE) September 10, 2019
Residents were quick to tweet the answer.
Dragonflies. Lots and lots of dragonflies. And they shared a lot of video of the amazing sight.
Not great.. this was taken outside the back of the house real quick.. driving down Baumhart road was a lot more interesting.. pic.twitter.com/lppwCPmWYv
— Draconius (@Dracoshooter) September 10, 2019
Dragonflies eating smaller insects and flying through my sprinkler tonight near Troy Ohio pic.twitter.com/T4XSn1vere
— Christine pence (@pence_christine) September 11, 2019
We saw them in Bellville, OH too! Caught one to ID, they’re green darners pic.twitter.com/EFRh87m3Z5
— Megan Whatman (@MeganWhatman) September 11, 2019
I saw them flying around my house in Gore VA yesterday after a brief thunderstorm. It was amazing to watch. pic.twitter.com/P84M5xLDxb
— Audrey Gleske (@AudreyGleske) September 12, 2019
— AmyLAllen (@Itsamylallen) September 11, 2019
Add VA to the list! pic.twitter.com/vfFeFudley
— Vicky Michael (@VickyMi85817174) September 12, 2019
Cape May, NJ tonight! It was so amazing to see!!! pic.twitter.com/CjHtY7oumL
— Shawn Darr (@ShawnDarr3) September 13, 2019
Reva, va Sept 12, 2019 pic.twitter.com/uJ5mgaBxsq
— Ann Whitney (@jacwhitney) September 12, 2019
Around 6:30 pm in Southern Ohio pic.twitter.com/lenWiSgMUP
— Debbie (@debraclearhills) September 11, 2019
The weather service was grateful.
While we are not biological experts, we have determined (through input from our followers) that it’s most likely dragonflies mixed with other insects/birds! https://t.co/5MeJXj37zq
— NWS Cleveland (@NWSCLE) September 10, 2019
Why?
Swarms tend to happen as the dragonflies move south to find warmer weather, according to experts.
Photo National Weather Service Cleveland/Twitter