Lifelong Washingtonian here, currently living about an hour from these tumbleweeds... this year has been dry (saw something about 50% less rainfall / snowfall t

Lifelong Washingtonian here, currently living about an hour from these tumbleweeds... this year has been dry (saw something about 50% less rainfall / snowfall than typical for this time of year...) but tumbleweeds like this are not really that unusual. One of my very earliest memories was being caught in a storm just like this one, just before xmas when I was about two. Much of eastern Washington is scrub, where if it can be irrigated, turns into excellent agricultural land.