Unprecedented Cicada Emergence: How To Avoid The Buzzing In Utah And Beyond

Well, this is the year of the cicada, not just in Utah but everywhere in the U.S. 

Even though it’s still winter here in the beehive state, reports are preparing for spring with billions of cicadas. You may be used to the deafening sound when you walk outside your home but it's about to get worse. NBC News reported that a rare double emergence cycle of cicadas is coming, and it will be huge.  

One brood on a 13-year cycle and another on a 17-year cycle will be coming out of the ground...at the same time.  

The last time this occurred was in 1803.  

“Thomas Jefferson was president the last time these two broods came out, so is it rare? Yes,” said Gene Kritsky, an entomologist at Mount St. Joseph University in Cincinnati and author of “A Tale of Two Broods,” a book about this year’s dual emergence that was published earlier this month. —NBC 

This kind of sync doesn’t happen but once every 221 years, so it really is a once-in-a-lifetime chance. Or even two and a half lifetimes really.  

Now, to be fully accurate, these cicadas are going to emerge from the ground in the Midwest and Southwest. However, there is a possibility with the billions of cicadas coming that Utah will see some of them. 

However, these guys should hopefully be gone by the first of July so the annoying buzzing will go away. Basically, don’t go near any trees or bushes from April to July.  

If you’d really like to hear the massive cicada population, visit Illinois during those months.