Most of us grew up watching one lone tumbleweed drift through an old Western. This looks different. The plants are Russian thistle, and they aren't really a summer thing. Most dry out and break away from their roots in late November and early December, depending on the weather.
The writer took a ton of pictures along the West Loop and says tumbleweeds are already all over town. No one is hammering the highway department here. The point is simple. If the Loop looks this thick, other parts of Lubbock and the South Plains could look the same.
Lubbock has seen this before. In past "tumbleweed storms," wind blew so many tumbleweeds into one place that they piled as high as rooftops. They can bury fences, block roads, and turn an ordinary windy day into a scene from a disaster movie. Anyone with a fence or a daily drive has the most to watch.
And the tumbleweeds haven't even started rolling yet.