Cicadas are awakening 4 years early. Its not a sign of the apocalypse but a scientific mystery.

[mfcorey1]

In 2004, billions upon billions of shrimp-size insects took to the skies in the mid-Atlantic United States, covering entire houses, blaring extremely loud noises, and littering forests with their exoskeletons. When the swarm was finally over, the insects — cicadas — laid their eggs in the ground. Residents were told these creatures wouldn’t emerge again for another 17 years.

The cicadas had other plans.

Reports in Baltimore and the Washington, DC, metro area indicate that a small group of the cicadas — a group called Brood X — are emerging from the ground to molt, mate, and make noise. They weren’t supposed to return until 2021.

No, this isn’t a sign of the impending apocalypse. (We think. We hope...) But entomologists are confused as to why portions of the brood, which have only been underground for 13 years of their 17-year cycle, are waking up and swarming. It’s just one more mystery of these amazing creatures, which have an uncanny ability to keep time.

The cicadas usually wait underground for 17 years
To be clear, the bugs waking up now appear to be just a small fraction of the billions of cicadas that make up the enormous Brood X. “So far, the current batch of early-arriving cicadas are sparse in numbers and are quickly falling victim to feasting birds,” the Washington Post points out. We know they’re from Brood X because of where they’re popping up. Different cicada broods occupy different parts of the country.

https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/5/18/15657722/cicada-washington-maryland-baltimore-wake-up

[MFM008]

1. Ground to warm?

[snooper2]

2. no LOL

[Chiyo-chichi]

12. Actually... maybe. I mean, it's "too" warm, but.... yeah.

"Not all cicadas appear on the strict schedule. There are also some cicadas, known as stragglers that appear a year later or earlier than the rest of their brood. One-year early or one-year late is the most common time-frame for stragglers, but this isn't always the case. In 2000, for example, many cicadas appeared four years earlier than their brood X schedule. Some observers theorize unseasonably warm weather may cause some stragglers to emerge early; others suggest delayed development may cause some stragglers to arrive late."
http://animals.howstuffworks.com/insects/why-17-year-cicadas-come-more-than-17-years2.htm

and from the article linked in the OP:
Portions of a brood waking up early are not unheard of, but experts are still unsure of why it happens, and why it is happening this year with Brood X. Something has interfered with the insects’ ability to keep track of time. One theory: climate change. As the Baltimore Sun explains, “longer growing seasons linked to climate change may have shortened the life cycle of many 17-year cicadas, and could end up creating new cycles of timekeeping broods.”

[aidbo]

3. Somehow cicadas have evolved to..

..have their broods be timed to prime numbers of years. There are 17 year broods and 13 year broods.

Maybe they also evolved to switch up timing as well, to further throw predators off?!

[MineralMan]

4. Oh, damn! The end times are fast approaching, for sure.

[Orsino]

5. I don't think they're in a mood to wait for 2020, either. n/t

[Wounded Bear]

6. Repub candidates emerging for early voting in 2018...

[No Vested Interest]

7. They're emerging in SW Ohio, too. nt

[PoliticAverse]

8. Be verry, verry quiet - my cicadas are still sleeping. n/t

[Happyhippychick]

9. I live in DC. I'm just a little sick and tired of disgusting bloated pests emerging from the ground

and screwing up my life since November 8th.

[Chiyo-chichi]

13. I'm in Indiana. We have them, too.

We also have early Brood X cicadas.

[Happyhippychick]

16. :) !

[kentuck]

10. They are giving a fore-warning...

about something that will happen 4 years from now?

[onenote]

11. As the article makes clear, this isn't all that unusual

There is an odd name for the phenomenon of cicadas emerging early: they're referred to as "stragglers" (I know, that sounds backwards). From time to time a batch of "stragglers" emerges early -- typically after 13 rather than 17 years. That's what's happening now, apparently. In theory, if a large enough batch of stragglers emerged they could end up creating a new brood on a new schedule, but it would have to take a really large number of stragglers. As for why? The most commonly repeated theory is that its weather related -- warmer than usual fall and winter, cold snap in spring, followed by warmer than typical weather.

[bigtree]

18. unusually warmer weather

[bpj62]

14. All over Arlington Va.

I was working in the yard on Tuesday when one of them landed on my leg. I thought it was odd to see them because as the article stated they are not supposed to arrive until 2021. This is my 4th go around with brood X. The 1987 brood was the thickest I have ever seen. My mother hated them the red eyes and the noise they make when you hold them drove her crazy.

[JoeStuckInOH]

15. They heard trump was preisident... couldn't believe it...

and wanted to see the train wreck firsthand before the next election cycle.

[yardwork]

17. It's Trump. They hear their master.