When ants block their nest, rain is coming

Ants can detect rain in advance based on humidity, and block the entrance to their burrows with dirt or harden the walls of their burrows to prevent water from flooding their nest.

People in the past who saw this situation were able to predict rain. You can also see ants carrying soil after rain to repair damaged areas.

Verity:

Like spiders, ants don't know when rain will come, but they do know how to cope with it.

Some build walls of earth around their nests to prevent flooding after heavy rain, other species completely block the nest's entrance using dirt, and some (Cephalotes) even press their heads together to block up entrance holes.

In Australia mangrove ants live in areas that frequently flood, and build air-tight nests of mud to keep dry. Fire ants can pack their bodies tightly together to form a raft, which then floats away until it makes landfall.

Finally, the bamboo ants. They have the remarkable practice of drinking rainwater that floods their bamboo nest, then go outside to pee!