Mysterious “blob” 130 kms wide causes confusion amongst meteorologists
A “blob” that appeared on the US National Weather Service’s radar had meteorologists worried as they thought it was a massive storm on the way.
The mass, which was about 130 kilometres wide went over San Diego County in Southern California.
However, on closer inspection, it appeared to be a massive swarm of ladybugs.
Meteorologist Joe Dandrea told The Los Angeles Times that the ladybugs were spread throughout the sky and flew at an altitude of between 1500 kilometres and 2700 kilometres.
The most concentrated group was about 16 kilometres wide.
“I don’t think they’re dense like a cloud,” he said. “The observer there said you could see little specks flying by.”
The large echo showing up on SoCal radar this evening is not precipitation, but actually a cloud of lady bugs termed a "bloom" #CAwx pic.twitter.com/1C0rt0in6z
— NWS San Diego (@NWSSanDiego) 5 June 2019
As California is home to about 200 species of ladybugs, it’s not yet known what type of ladybugs were causing the phenomenon.