5 chill-inducing stories from 2024 to get you ready for Halloween
From zombie storms to a cloud shaped like the mothership of a fleet of alien spaceships, here are some of the strangest phenomena of 2024.
A police officer in Bay Village, Ohio, attempted to remove this inflatable pumpkin from blocking the street before getting completely enveloped on Oct. 14, requiring a little extra help.
Young masqueraders dressed as ghouls and goblins will soon venture out into the night to collect candy amid the frenzy of Halloween festivities. However, Mother Nature didn't wait for the haunting season to scare up some eerie phenomena. From ominous weather patterns to unearthly cloud formations, these stories from 2024 are sure to send shivers down your spine.
1. Tarantula migration in Colorado
Critters have been crawling across southeastern Colorado, almost right on cue for the start of the Halloween season.
Tarantulas have been on the move as they start their annual migration, a shriek-inducing sight for some, while others swarm to the state to see the migration for themselves.
Thousands of tarantulas can be seen scurrying in La Junta, Colorado, as ideal temperatures send the spiders searching for mates. (AccuWeather/Tony Laubach)
The annual migration comes with the first waves of cooler air in September and October as male tarantulas scurry around trying to find a mate before the arrival of winter.
2. 'Your worst nightmares' wash up on Texas beach
Bearded fireworms may sound like creatures out of a horror story, but that was the reality in Texas this year as the spine-covered animals invaded the Gulf Coast.
"Your worst nightmares are washing up right now in the form of bearded fireworms!" the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies said in a post on Facebook on Aug. 14.
Touching the bristles can cause intense pain, sometimes lasting for hours, while the skin can remain sensitive for weeks after an encounter.
3. 'Zombie' Hurricane John
One of the worst hurricanes to hit Mexico this year made landfall in the state twice -- once as a "zombie storm."
Hurricane John initially struck Mexico's Pacific coast as a Category 3 storm on Sept. 23. Mexico's rugged terrain then tore the storm apart. John wasn't finished, however. The storm's center moved back over water on Sept. 25, allowing it to regenerate and regain hurricane status. John made landfall again on Sept. 27.
A satellite image showing Hurricane John near southern Mexico on Monday, Sept. 23, 2024. (NOAA via AP)
John caused extreme flooding as it unloaded nearly 57 inches of rain in the hardest-hit areas. More than two dozen deaths have been blamed on the storm.
4. 'UFO' clouds
One of the most breathtaking -- and eerie -- looking clouds have left onlookers puzzled over the years, with some resembling UFOs from science fiction.
Lenticular clouds are pictured on January 14, 2024 in La Possession on France's Indian Ocean Reunion Island. (Photo by RICHARD BOUHET/AFP via Getty Images)
The phenomenon is known as lenticular clouds, and they come in all shapes and sizes. The clouds are most common near tall mountains as air is pushed up and over the landscape, but they can appear almost anywhere when the conditions are just right.
5. Waterspout 'transforms' into tornado over Buffalo
More tornadoes have touched down in New York in 2024 than any other year on record, with 32 tallied through mid-October. But one was unlike any other.
A waterspout spun up over Lake Erie on the afternoon of Aug. 5 and "transformed" into a tornado as it moved over land, tearing a path through downtown Buffalo. It was rated an EF1 with maximum winds of 90 mph.
An image of the EF1 tornado that raced through Buffalo, New York, on Aug. 5, 2024. (X/ Grace DiRienzo)
A waterspout is the name given to a whirlwind that develops over water, but when tracks over land, it is re-classified as a tornado. The types of twisters are usually not as powerful as those that touch down in Tornado Alley but can still endanger lives and property.
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