05/14/2026
This is serious! Call us if you don't have coverage!
LOUISIANA is lighting up tonight, but it is not rain on the radar. 🐜
If you are seeing strange blobs, streaks, and swirling clouds on Doppler radar from around the Lake Charles area, the radar is actually picking up HUGE swarms of flying termites, insects, and even some birds feeding on them. The same radar technology we use to track storms can also detect large groups of bugs when they fill the sky.
This happens almost every year across Louisiana, especially after long stretches of heavy rain, flooding, swampy ground, and warm humid evenings. The soaked soil and high humidity create perfect conditions for termite colonies to send out “swarmers” looking to start new colonies. Calm winds tonight are also helping them take flight.
The biggest trouble spots tonight look to be across southern and central Louisiana including areas near Lake Charles, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, and New Orleans where warm humid air is sticking around after recent rain. Some swarms are so dense they can actually appear on radar returns.
A few quick tricks to help keep them out of your home tonight include turning off porch lights and unnecessary outdoor lighting because termites are strongly attracted to lights, keeping doors and windows closed around sunset, checking around windowsills and entryways for discarded wings, and reducing standing water and excess moisture around your home if possible.
The good news is these giant swarms usually peak around dusk and early nighttime hours. A single swarm may only last 30 minutes to an hour, but Louisiana could continue seeing nightly swarms off and on for the next couple of weeks while warm humid conditions continue.
So if your weather radar suddenly looks strange tonight across Louisiana, there is a good chance you are actually watching millions of insects taking to the skies instead of rain.