A handful of travelers spent the early hours of the new year trapped inside a massive pileup of tumbleweeds that shut down a highway in eastern Washington for 10 hours.

State Route 240 was closed in both directions at mile point 10 near West Richland as Washington Department of Transportation workers cleared the road -- using what appeared in photos to be a snow plow.

The Associated Press quoted Washington State Trooper Chris Thorson, who said five cars and one 18-wheel semi truck were trapped in the tumbleweeds over New Year’s Eve night. The road did not reopen until about 4:30 a.m. New Year’s Day.

“People were still stuck at midnight and rung in the new year trapped under the weeds,” Thorson said.

Thorson posted on Twitter that tumbleweeds were piled 20 to 30 feet in places.

By 8 a.m. Wednesday, officials reported that one abandon car was still trapped in the tumbleweeds, but no one was found inside.

In this image taken Tuesday evening, Dec. 31, 2019, and provided by the Washington State Patrol, Washington State Department of Transportation using snow plows to remove a pile of tumbleweeds along State Route 240 near Richland, Wash. (Trooper Chris Thorson/Washington State Patrol viaAP)AP

A pretty incredible sight from SR 240 where tumbleweed closed he road for 10hours last night. Big thanks to our crews who worked through the night to clear roadway. https://t.co/23RaWImGCH — WSDOT East (@WSDOT_East) January 1, 2020

-- Samantha Swindler; sswindler@oregonian.com; @editorswindler

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