AMAZING DOPPLER RADAR IMAGE: FROM OUT OF THE MISSISSIPPI, MAYFLIES EMERGE TO MATE AND DIE
Via evolutionary biologist Jerry Coyne's Why Evolution Is True blog [July 22, 2014]
What you're seeing is a Doppler radar loop from the Lacrosse, Wisconsin office of the National Weather Service.
What the radar saw for 90 minutes was a massive mayfly emergence on June 23.
Probably the giant mayfly, Hexagenia limbata.
On Saturday evening, June 23 2012, a massive mayfly emergence occurred along the Mississippi River beginning just after 9 pm. By late evening, mayflies were swarming in La Crosse, La Crescent, and points up and down the river. While the emergence of mayflies from their river bottom mud dwelling can occur at various times through the warm season, this particular event was one of the best seen on radar yet.
In the radar time lapse loop from 9 pm to just after 1030 pm, the yellows and oranges indicate a large magnitude of airborne mayflies.
Go here to see another amazing radar loop showing part of this swarm of mayflies being carried off by the wind at altitudes as high as 3000 feet!
More information [as well as images] at the La Crosse National Weather Service site ...
