Radar Picked Up Possible Wildfire, Turned Out To Be 600,000 Ducks

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Weather officials found themselves surprised Wednesday when they learned that the plume they spotted on radar over northern Minnesota turned out not to be a wildfire but lots and lots of ducks.

About 600,000 of them.

The National Weather Service station in Duluth tweeted about the wildfire-waterfowl confusion, explaining that forecasters spotted the suspicious plume Wednesday morning in the Rice Lake National Wildlife Refuge and called officials there to see if they were aware of the situation.

The wildlife officials said they were conducting a waterfowl survey and estimated some 600,000 ducks were flying over the park, located just south of McGregor.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, all sorts of flying animals, from birds to bats to insects, can appear on radar.

This morning we saw a plume on radar that appeared to be a fire. We tracked down the location to the Rice Lake National Wildlife Refuge. We contacted someone there and it turned out they were doing a waterfowl survey and they estimated 600,000 ducks were in the air. #radar #ducks pic.twitter.com/wU6pTvxb5g

— NWS Duluth (@NWSduluth) October 16, 2019