Sample Earth Science Lesson

It’s Raining Cats and Dogs….and Frogs and Fish!


What would you think if you logged on to the Internet to check the weather for your area and read the following report: “Tonight, lows in the 60s, clouds moving in. Tomorrow, windy, chance of rain 90%, may be mixed with falling frogs and/or fish.” You might think it was April Fool’s Day. How can it rain frogs and fish? Is it possible?

Strange Stormy Events

Throughout history there have been recordings of strange events occurring with some severe storms. People have seen objects such as frogs, fish, ducks, or rocks falling from the sky during heavy rainstorms. Fish have been spotted flopping in puddles on the ground miles from a body of water after a rainstorm. There have been cases reported that described the ground and every surface covered in tiny frogs that rained down over the span of several days. Reports of falling ducks and woodpeckers in Baton Rouge were recorded in 1896. Thousands of maggots fell in Acapulco in 1968. There have even been reports of two frogs falling from the sky in a hailstone and then hopping away. One recent event occurred on the east coast of England in the summer of 2000. A heavy rainstorm in the town of Great Yarmouth, located about half a mile from the coast, dropped 2-inch fish with the rainwater. There are so many documented cases and eye witnesses, from ancient and modern times, that this can’t be a hoax. How can this happen?

A Meteorological Explanation

Many have tried to explain the occurrence of strange objects, often living objects, falling from the sky. A variety of hypotheses have been suggested. Some suggested that fish found inland after a heavy rain were actually a species of fish that actually are known to migrate overland. This, of course, didn’t explain the frogs or ducks that were seen falling from the sky. The possibility that the heavy rain created a pathway from a lake or the ocean to dry land that the fish traveled on was also explored. But people actually saw the objects fall from the sky with the rain in some cases. One scientist decided that there must be an ocean-like body a few miles above the surface of Earth where fish and other organisms gather. Our knowledge of Earth’s atmosphere and outer space has made this scenario very unlikely. For the most part, scientists today are convinced that this phenomena is caused by waterspouts - “mini-tornados” that occur over bodies of water. The updrafts that are created during a thunderstorm may in some cases be so strong that they can scoop up small fish or other animals that may be near the surface of a body of water. It probably isn’t likely that a tornado could sweep you or your dog over the rainbow, but a similar weather event could take some unsuspecting fish on quite a journey!


On Your Own
Other seemingly bazaar natural events have scientific explanations. The Northern Lights, an abrupt, widespread disruption in cell phone and pager reception, the spontaneous ringing of church bells in Boston in 1811-12, and the abnormally vivid sunsets worldwide for several years after 1883 are all examples of strange phenomena that can be explained by science. Choose one of the above, or find a different example of your own, and research the true cause of the phenomena. Present your findings to the class.