Rare 'Animal Rain' phenomenon causes fish to fall from sky in East Texas

  • 08 Jan - 14 Jan, 2022
  • Mag The Weekly
  • Mag Files

It's cloudy with a chance of fins in East Texas. "2021 is pulling out all the tricks… including raining fish in Texarkana today. And no, this isn't a joke," the City of Texarkana, Texas, wrote on Facebook. The post recounted a bizarre occurrence that landed directly in the yards of area residents this week: fish raining from the sky. The falling fish were the result of "animal rain," which the city described in its Facebook post as "a phenomenon that occurs when small water animals like frogs, crabs, and small fish are swept up in waterspouts or drafts that occur on the surface of the earth.” The flightless creatures can travel for miles in a cloud after getting swept up. Eventually, the cloud releases water, showering the animals caught up by the waterspout or draft to the ground as well. Even though the weather event lasted only a few minutes, hundreds of Texarkana residents commented on the city's Facebook post about their experiences with the animal rain, and many shared photos of the fish that fell on their properties, which wound up everywhere from residential yards to used car parking lots.

RELATED POST

COMMENTS