Cicada Alert Level:

four cicadas

With ground temps remaining above 65 degrees for several weeks now, we assure our readers that the entirety of Brood XIII has emerged and has completed the molting process.

Cicada Alert Level:

three cicadas

Earlier this week we alarmed residents with the announcement that ground zero had moved west of Western Avenue. We quickly learned that, well, we were, uh, not exactly correct.

It is rare

Cicada Alert Level:

two cicadas

Like a team skilled bird-dogs, our people at the Southwest Observer have their eyes trained to the skies - but not for our clumsy little winged visitors; rather for the unmistakable glide-and-swoop pattern of gulls gorging on unsuspecting cicadas.

And in recent days a steady stream of warm temperatures and cloudless skies has been the result of last week's cold front that swept through the region wreaking havoc across the Midwest.

Cicada Alert Level:

two cicadas

Thousands of cicadas battled 40 mph winds Thursday as a low pressure swept through the area, leaving them to truly flap in the breeze - and forcing many against the windshields of school buses shepherding area children home in these final weeks of school.

Cicada Alert Level:

one cicada

Yesterday it was the autumn-like temperatures; today it was the persistent drizzle and overcast skies.

Both are killjoys in their own right, hampering the most anticipated mating ritual of the last dozen years or so.

With a low front sweeping through Chicagoland and ground temperatures staying put, our team of cicada-casters is predicting a low peak level in the next day or two.

Cicada Alert Level:

two cicadas

As the cacophonous buzz overhead transforms into a Doppler-like howl deep into the treetops, we anticipate their arrival. With both anxious tension and childlike curiosity we wait for the peak. No need to worry, residents of Mount Greenwood, Beverly and Morgan Park: Cicada Watch 2007 is the only place you can turn to as this most recent cycle of cicadas emerges from its long sleep to blanket the area like an army of precinct captains stumping for their hopeful in the days leading up to the election.