The Strange Sounds After El Paso’s Downpour Have an Answer

Monsoon season in El Paso is a bit of a mixed bag.

On one hand, the rain is a welcome relief from triple-digit temperatures. On the other, it usually means flooded streets, slowdowns on I-10 and suddenly remembering where all the potholes are! And apparently, it also means strange noises start coming from the desert.

After the recent downpour, some El Pasoans noticed mysterious nighttime sounds echoing through parts of the city. As it turns out, the answer is much less spooky than you might think.

El Pasoans Were Trying to Solve a Strange Nighttime Mystery

A video posted from an East side resident asking, "What are these strange noises?" quickly got people talking.

The theories were exactly what you'd expect from El Paso: some commenters joked that it was La Llorona. Others said it was something every Lower Valley kid would immediately recognize.

Then the answer started appearing: Toads. Lots and lots of toads!

READ MORE: El Paso's Signature Scent is Officially Rain

The Strange Sounds Are Likely Coming From Desert Toads

Several commenters identified the sounds as spadefoot toads, which are found throughout the Southwest.

What's especially fascinating is that these little amphibians spend most of the year underground, sometimes buried a foot or more beneath the desert surface. Then heavy summer rains arrive, and suddenly they emerge to eat, mate and lay eggs.

In other words, they don't magically appear after the rain, they've been here the whole time, they were just waiting for the desert to get wet!

Why Hearing Toads Might Be One of the Most El Paso Things Ever

The Chihuahuan Desert may not be the first place people think of when they hear the word "toads," but monsoon season transforms the landscape in surprising ways.

For many people in the Lower Valley, those strange sounds aren't mysterious at all. They're simply part of summer in El Paso. One person hears La Llorona. Another hears childhood memories.

READ MORE: This El Paso Bar Could Be the Next Haunted Hot Spot

But the next time a summer storm rolls through and the desert starts making weird noises, you'll know exactly what's happening.

The toads are awake, and apparently, they have a lot to say!