Raining animals
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2008-07-11T21:51:10Z
Hmoul
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cats and dogs
{{Expand|date=November 2007}}
[[Image:478px-Pluie de chats.jpg|thumb|250px|right|A drawing of the raining animals phenomenon]]
[[Image:Singapourfish.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Rain of fishes in [[Singapore]], as described by local inhabitants]]
'''Raining animals''' is a relatively rare [[meteorology|meteorological]] phenomenon, although occurrences have been reported from many countries throughout history. One hypothesis that has been furthered to explain this phenomenon is that strong winds travelling over water sometimes pick up debris such as fish or frogs, and carry them for up to several miles.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/3582802.stm How can it rain fish?]</ref> However, this primary aspect of the phenomenon has never been witnessed or scientifically tested.
The animals most likely to drop from the sky in a [[rain]]fall are [[fish]] and [[frog]]s, with [[bird]]s coming third. Sometimes the animals survive the fall, especially fish, suggesting a small time gap between the extraction and the actual drop. Several witnesses of raining frogs describe the animals as startled, though healthy, and exhibiting relatively normal behavior shortly after the event. In some incidents, however, the animals are frozen to death or even completely encased in ice. There are examples where the product of the rain is not intact animals, but shredded body parts. Some cases occur just after storms having strong winds, especially during tornadoes.
However, there have been many cases in which rainfalls of animals have occurred in fair weather and in the absence of strong winds or waterspouts.
==Explanations==
[[Image:Tornade003.jpg|right|150px|thumb|Tornadoes may suck up animals into the air and deposit them miles away.]]
French physicist [[André-Marie Ampère]] was among the first scientists to take seriously accounts of raining animals. He tried to explain rains of frogs with a hypothesis that was eventually refined by other scientists. Speaking in front of the Society of Natural Sciences, Ampère suggested that at times frogs and toads roam the countryside in large numbers, and that the action of violent winds can pick them up and carry them great distances.<ref>[http://www.france-pittoresque.com/faune/24b.htm «Les pluies de crapauds»] {{fr icon}}.</ref>
More recently, a scientific explanation for the phenomenon has been developed that involves [[waterspouts]]. In effect, waterspouts are capable of capturing objects and animals and lifting them into the air. Under this theory, waterspouts or [[tornado]]s, transport animals to relatively high altitudes, carrying them over large distances. The winds are capable of carrying the animals over a relatively wide area and allow them to fall in a concentrated fashion in a localized area.<ref>[http://www.thesupernaturalworld.co.uk/index.php?code=02&file=cats_dogs.php&title=Raining%20Cats%20and%20Dogs&cat=articles Supernatural World] uses this theory to explain a rain of fishes in [[Norfolk]] on August 8, 2000.</ref> More specifically, some tornados can completely suck up a pond, letting the water and animals fall some distance away in the form of a ''rain of animals.''<ref>Orsy Campos Rivas includes this explanation in the article ''Lo que la lluvia regala a Yoro'', which discusses a rain of fishes that accurs annually in Honduras. [http://www.elsalvador.com/hablemos/2004/110704/110704-4.htm Hablemos online]{{es}}</ref>
This hypothesis appears supported by the type of animals in these rains: small and light, usually aquatic.<ref>Angwin, Richard [http://www.bbc.co.uk/wiltshire/weather/raining_cats_dogs.shtml Wiltshire weather - BBC], July 15, 2003</ref>. It is also supported by the fact that the rain of animals is often preceded by a storm.
[[Image:Bat-supercell encounter NWS.png|thumb|right|300px|Doppler Image from Texas showing the collision of a thunderstorm with a group of bats in flight. The color red indicates the animals flying into the storm.]]
In the case of birds, storms may overcome a flock in flight, especially in times of migration. The image to the right shows an example where a group of bats is overtaken by a thunderstorm.<ref>[http://www.spc.noaa.gov/coolimg/batrad/index.html '''Bat-eating Supercell'''], [[National Weather Service]], ([[March 19]] [[2006]]).</ref>. The image shows how the phenomenon could take place in some cases. In the image, the bats are in the red zone, which corresponds to winds moving away from the radar station, and enter into a [[mesocyclone]] associated with a tornado (in green). These events may occur easily with birds in flight. In contrast, it is harder to find a plausible explanation for rains of terrestrial animals; part of the enigma persists despite scientific studies.
In some cases, scientific explanations deny the existence of rains of fishes. For example, in the case of a rain of fishes is Singapore in 1861, French naturalist [[François Louis de la Porte, comte de Castelnau|Francis de Laporte de Castelnau]] explained that the supposed rain took place during a migration of [[walking catfish]], which are capable of dragging themselves over the land from one puddle to another. <ref>''Comptes Rendus hebdomadaires des séances de l’Académie des sciences'' 52:880-81, 1861 {{fr icon}}.</ref> Thus, he argued that the appearance of fish on the ground immediately after a rain was easily explained, as these animals usually move over soft ground or after a rain.
===Cats and Dogs===
The phrase "raining cats and dogs" is thought to originate from when peasant homes in Europe were commonly thatched and the home was constructed in such a manner that animals could crawl into the thatch and find shelter from the elements - this would include cats and dogs (if small enough) as they would not normally be provided shelter indoors and barns were for those wealthy enough to afford them. If it rained hard enough (or long enough) the thatch would become so wet that it could no longer support the weight of the various animals that were seeking shelter in it and they would fall through into the building.
== Occurrences ==
{{Citations missing|section|date=May 2007}}
The following list is a selection of examples.
=== Fish ===
[[Image:Gravure de pluie de poissons.jpg|right|thumb|200px|1555 engraving of rain of fish]]
*[[Cambridge, Maryland]], [[1828]]
*[[Rahway, New Jersey]], [[November 13]] [[1833]]
*[[Aberdare]], [[Glamorgan]]shire, [[Wales]], [[1841]]
*[[Singapore]], [[February 22]] [[1861]] <ref name="Singapore fish rain">{{cite journal| last = McAtee| first = Waldo L.| title = Showers of Organic Matter| journal = Monthly Weather Review| volume = 45| issue = 5| pages = 223| date= May 1917| url = http://ams.allenpress.com/perlserv/?request=get-toc&issn=1520-0493&volume=45&issue=5| accessdate = 2007-05-24}}</ref>
*[[Mountain Ash, Wales|Mountain Ash]], [[Glamorgan]]shire, [[Wales]], [[February 9]], [[1859]]
*[[Olneyville, Rhode Island]], [[May 15]], [[1900]]
*[[Tiller’s Ferry, South Carolina|Tiller’s Ferry]], [[South Carolina]], June [[1901]] ([[catfish]])
*[[Marksville, Louisiana]], [[October 23]], [[1947]]
*[[Ranchi]], [[Ranchi, Jharkhand|India]], July [[1997]]
*[[Great Yarmouth]], [[Norfolk]], [[August 8]] [[2000]]
*[[Wiltshire]], May [[2001]]
*[[Knighton, Wales|Knighton, Powys]], [[Wales]], [[August 18]] [[2004]]
*[[Paravur]], [[Kerala]], [[India]] May [[2006]]
*[[Peerumed]], [[Kerala]], [[India]] July 2006
*[[Thaliparamba]], [[Kerala]], [[India]], July 20 2006
*[[Paracatu]], [[Minas Gerais]], [[Brazil]], [[February 14]] [[2007]]
*[[Rain of Fishes|Honduras, Rain of Fishes]], (supposedly taking place once or twice a year, every year for more than a century)
=== Frogs and toads ===
*[[Trowbridge]], [[Wiltshire]], [[June 16]] [[1939]]
*[[Leicester, Massachusetts]], [[September 7]] [[1953]]
*[[Cirencester]], [[Gloucestershire]], [[1986]]
*[[Llanddewi Brefi]], [[Ceredigion]] (Cardiganshire), [[Wales]], [[1996]]
*[[Villa Angel Flores]], [[Mexico]], June [[1997]]
*[[Croydon]], [[London]], March [[1998]]
*[[Odžaci]], [[Serbia]], [[July 3]] [[2005]]
* Chistlehurst, Bromley, August 30 2007
=== Others ===
*An unidentified animal (thought to be a cow) fell in California ripped to tiny pieces on [[August 1]] [[1869]]; a similar incident was reported in [[Bath County, Kentucky]] in [[1876]]
*[[Jellyfish]] fell from the sky in [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]], [[England]], in [[1894]] (but see also [[star jelly]])
*Assorted dead birds, including [[duck]]s, [[woodpecker]]s and [[canary|canaries]] in [[Baton Rouge, Louisiana]], November [[1896]]
*[[Worm]]s dropped from the sky in [[Jennings, Louisiana]], on July 11, 2007.
*People from [[Matagalpa]], [[Nicaragua]] say that turtles fell from the sky in the late 1990s.
*[[Bats]] in southwestern [[Texas]] in 2007 were seen on [[NEXRAD]] being sucked into a supercell thunderstorm near nightfall. It is unconfirmed if the bats fell back to earth, though it was probably likely that some did.
== See also ==
{{Illustrated Wikipedia|Raining WikiWorld.png}}
*[[Exploding animals]]
*''[[Magnolia (movie)#Raining Frogs & Exodus 8:2|Magnolia]]''
*''[[The Fortean Times]]''
* "[[It's Raining Men]]"
* [[Red rain in Kerala]]
* [[Star jelly]]
* [[Lluvia de Peces|Honduras Rain of Fishes]]
== References ==
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== External references ==
*[http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/298100.html Raining cats and dogs]
*[http://www.uk-tourist-information.com/myst/anomalies.html Raining animals in the British Isles]
*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/3582802.stm BBC report on raining fish]
*[http://www.bbc.co.uk/wiltshire/weather/raining_cats_dogs.shtml BBC Wiltshire report on raining animals]
*[http://www.bbc.co.uk/bristol/content/weather/2003/02/28/raining.shtml BBC Bristol]
*[http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/weatherwise/living/severe/ BBC Overview]
*[http://www.prairieghosts.com/falls_sky.html A review on the American perspective]
*[http://www.xprojectmagazine.com/archives/strange/fishrain.html Fish rain]
*[http://www.elsalvador.com/hablemos/2004/110704/110704-4.htm Honduras rain of Fishes]
*[http://allaboutfrogs.org/weird/general/raining.html Its Raining Frogs!]
== Bibliography ==
*''The Fortean Times''. {{Fact|date=February 2007}} <!-- more information is needed for a proper citation -->
[[Category:Anomalous weather]]
{{Link FA|es}}
{{Link FA|fr}}
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[[el:Βροχή ζώων]]
[[es:Lluvia de animales]]
[[fr:Pluie d'animaux]]
[[gl:Chuvia de animais]]
[[it:Pioggia di animali]]
[[he:גשם של בעלי חיים]]
[[pl:Deszcz zwierząt]]
[[pt:Chuva de animais]]
[[ru:Дождь из животных]]
[[fi:Eläinten sataminen]]