Worm warning: NWS sends alert due to abundance of crawling critters

Brian Lada
·2 min read

This July 28, 2010 photo shows an assortment of Canadian nightcrawlers working in a standard compost pile in New Market, Virginia. (AP Photo/Dean Fosdick)

A puzzling and unconventional weather alert was sent out to people across southern Minnesota on Thursday morning but only to folks who were on social media.

The warning was issued by the National Weather Service's (NWS) Twin Cities office, located near Minneapolis, although it wasn't due to approaching severe weather or a springtime snowstorm.

"WORM WARNING!" the NWS office said in a tweet. "Areas along and south of I-94 can expect to see, smell, and step on many worms this morning. Proceed with caution."

It didn't take long before social media was squirming with responses asking if it was an actual warning that Minnesotans should take seriously. "Lived here all my life, never heard this before," one Twitter user asked. "This is a real thing?"

In this Tuesday, March 21, 2017 photo, a bloodworm is seen in Harpswell, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Shortly after posting the worm warning on Twitter, the NWS office spilled the beans and admitted that the bizarre bulletin was in jest.

"We were making a joke on the amount of worms that surfaced with this morning's rain," the NWS office said on Twitter. "Just trying to lighten the mood this gloomy Thursday morning!"

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The conditions have been perfect for worms to emerge from the ground across southern Minnesota over the past two weeks.

April ended with damp weather and was followed by a mild start to May, a combination that softened the warming soil and allowed worms to emerge in great numbers.

With rain in the forecast through Saturday, people in the Minneapolis area should remain on alert for more worms squirming across sidewalks and wiggling across walkways before warm and dry conditions arrive early in the upcoming week.

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