Weird Island

14. WEIRD WEATHER: That Time it Rained Fish

Episode Summary

On May 15, 1900 Olneyville, RI was hit by a strange storm. Temperatures dropped, the sky darkened, winds picked up, and fish fell from the sky! To Visit: There’s not really anything specific to see, but you can go to Olneyville where the fish fell at either Harris Avenue or Joslin Avenue. Or, you can go to Dune Brothers and get some fresh fish (not rained fish) for lunch or dinner--because they’re the reason I came across this story. According to a Yoro, Honduras resident who ate fish that fell during the Lluvia de Peces, “It tasted like fish,” so you’re not missing some special rain-fish flavor. Dune Brothers Seafood | 239 Dyer Street, Providence, RI 20903

Episode Notes

Episode Source Material: 

• VIDEO: It Rained Fish In Mexico, Officials Say. No, It's Not The End Times (We Think)
• Rain of Fish
• MAY 1900 WEATHER DATA - NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND MAY 1900 WEATHER DATA - NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND
• Weatherwatch: Raining fish | US weather
• Can it rain frogs, fish, and other objects?
• Fish fall from sky with rain in northern Mexico
• Every Year, the Sky ‘Rains Fish.’ Explanations Vary. (Published 2017)
• Lluvia de Peces (Rain of Fish) – Yoro, Honduras.
• Strange Rains
• Honduras: Reportan lluvia de peces en las redes sociales - Diario El Heraldo
• Fish Rain Over Streets in Thailand
• Lluvia de Peces: Visiting the town that rains fish
• RAINS OF FISHES
• When Animals Fall from the Sky
• What is a waterspout?
• Pliny the Elder | Natural History

Episode Transcription

• Hi! I’m Sara, and you’re listening to Weird Island. Each week I’ll be telling you about the strangest stories I can dig up, from my tiny little state of Rhode Island.
• This week’s story is truly a weird one! You’ve heard of the phrase “raining cats and dogs,” and while it’s been a pretty nice spring, we definitely experienced a few rains early this year in Rhode Island that could almost be described as being that bad, especially when you factor in the wind. But 121 years ago, Olneyville was hit by a storm so distinctive, it couldn’t accurately be described as “raining cats and dogs.” It rained fish. 
• According to an issue of Old Rhode Island magazine published in July 1992 that I found reposted on Quahog.org, Tuesday, May 15th, 1900 seemed like a beautiful, if unseasonably warm day. The days and weeks prior had averaged chillier, according to historical weather data from nearby Newport, with highs in the upper-50s and low-60s (though it was likely a little warmer inland in Providence). But on that day, temperatures skyrocketed. It was so hot, peaking at 93 degrees in Olneyville by the late afternoon, that the rails of the newly built Washington Street drawbridge had expanded, and wouldn’t close. Surely, there were some warm-weather lovers out and about raving about the joys of getting some beautiful, summery sun on their skin after a long winter. And there were probably others complaining it was way too hot to be outside. 
• But by 4PM that day, even the heat-lovers would have had to admit it was time to head indoors, as the weather quickly began to turn. The temperature dropped from 93 to 73 degrees within a matter of minutes, and the sky darkened. Lightning flashed and winds picked up to gale forces. 
• According to the reposted article, the Providence Journal reported that a billboard at 42 Exchange Place advertising some sort of risque entertainment was “compelled to cease its wicked occupation” when it blew down into the street. And the wooden top of a water tower blew off and landed in someone’s home. And sometime during this chaos, it began to rain fish. 
• They fell in two places--on Harris avenue, where it’s said hundreds of small 2” - 4.5” pout rained down. And on Joslin Street, near Manton Ave, where even smaller pout and perch fell. 
• After the weather died down, locals filled buckets with the fish and collected them as souvenirs. Some were even displayed at a local bar and in the newspaper office. It was also said that ice-covered pebbles rained down with the fish, but only the fish were collected as proof.
• If you’re skeptical of this story, well, you kind of should be. Because, here’s the thing. There have been a number of stories of fish and frogs and birds and snakes and worms raining down from the sky over the years, dating back to 74 AD when Pliny the Elder wrote about it in “Natural History.” So, there’s pretty solid anecdotal evidence that something like this happens. But the scientific community hasn’t exactly verified a ton of accounts, and there are surprisingly few people who have personally witnessed the animals falling from the sky--most witnessed the aftermath, with the animals scattered on the ground. And on top of that, some recent stories have actually been hoaxes. For example, in 2015, a series of photos showing hundreds of dead fish on a street in China circulated, with reports claiming it had rained fish. But, it turns out the photos were actually of an accident in which a truck transporting fish had spilled them on the street. So, some healthy skepticism is necessary with these kinds of stories.
• In the case of the fish rain in Olneyville, it seems that the original news coverage might have been written by a reporter who hadn’t witnessed the fish falling from the sky, but believed it had occurred based on the account of a reliable source--a local policeman, whose quote “sturdy character and reputation for veracity in his many years of service in that locality has been considered as firm as a rock.” And there were apparently enough accounts to indicate something had for sure happened.
• After looking into the phenomenon, which is referred to as “animal rain” the consensus is that it’s definitely a possibility that fish could have rained down from the sky. 
• According to the Library of Congress, there are two possible explanations for animal rain. The most commonly discussed meteorological phenomena are tornadic waterspouts. These are essentially tornadoes that either form over a body of water, or move from land to water. They have the same characteristics of land tornadoes, though they’re typically not as strong. While a land-tornado might reach speeds up to 310 miles per hour, a tornadic waterspout can reach up to 100 miles an hour, but can still be pretty destructive. And they’re accompanied by high winds and lightning. The thing about waterspouts is, they don’t actually suck water up into the air like a vacuum, which might be what you’re picturing. The water is actually condensation, but the whirlwind can lift small things into the air, similar to a tornado on land. And it’s possible that the little fish, likely weighing well under a pound, were small enough to be lifted by a strong waterspout and then deposited somewhere, giving the impression that it’s raining fish. 
• The second possible explanation is that there was no tornadic waterspout, but just an unusually powerful updraft. According to Weather.gov, every thunderstorm has an updraft--it’s actually what creates the thunderstorm. The updraft characterizes the storm's early development, when warm air rises to the level where condensation and precipitation develop. On an unusually hot day, like that of May 15th, surface air can quickly become much warmer and less dense than the air above it, resulting in the warm air rising and being replaced by descending, cooler air. This upward moving air is the updraft. Scientists speculated that an 1882 story about a time when it hailed frogs in Dubuque, Iowa might have been due to a powerful updraft which picked up frogs and froze them into hail in the cold air high above the earth’s surface. 
• But, all of this is just speculation, because no one has ever witnessed the origin of animal rain. It is so rare, and weather conditions are generally so unsafe when it is said to happen, that there are no documented observations of how animal rain came to be. 
• But there are plenty of stories. One of the most famous locations said to be home to animal rain is Yoro, Honduras, where locals report that it rains fish at least once per year. If you look up the phenomenon, this is probably the story you’ll find. Locals claim it has been happening since the 1800s, when Father Jose Manuel Subirana, a visiting missionary, prayed for three days and three nights for God to provide food for the starving residents of the town. Today, the divine miracle of the Lluvia de Peces is celebrated with an annual festival -- and it’s what the town is most famous for. 
• The fish arrive each year during a large storm, with heavy rain. Once the storm has passed, the streets are filled with fish. But, like in other stories, it seems no one has actually witnessed the fish falling from the sky, which casts doubt on the rain piece of the story. Many articles claim that in the 1970s, a team from National Geographic actually verified the Lluvia de Peces and studied the fish, finding them all to be blind. But those claims don’t seem to be accurate. A writer from WorldTravelGuide.net contacted National Geographic, and found that they had no records of a visit to Yoro in either their magazines or in their grant records. So, if someone did witness the event, it likely wasn’t them. And locals claim the storms are too dangerous to brave, so none have actually seen the fish falling from the sky. 
• So with all of that in mind, it’s still entirely possible the fish are falling from the sky. But it’s maybe even more likely that these heavy rainstorms flood otherwise dry land, and wash fish out from local waters, leaving them stranded when the water recedes. The aftermath could definitely give the impression the fish fell from the sky, if the water receded quickly enough. So that’s one possible alternate explanation. The unverified claim that the fish are blind could also suggest another idea--that the fish live in subterranean streams or caverns that overflow during rainstorms. But there is so much about that idea that is speculative or unverified that it would require further study. No one really knows what’s happening in Yoro, but just in my opinion… It seems a little... unlikely that if the fish were being rained down they would be deposited in the same location year after year. 
• But I tend to believe it probably really has happened at some point. I can’t point to one story that seems like a bulletproof example, honestly, but there accounts that seem plausible. 
• Like a story from Marksville, Louisiana in 1947 where Louisiana Department of Wildlife biologist A. D. Bajkov happened to be having breakfast with his wife when a waitress told him it was raining fish. When he went outside, he reported seeing about 1 fish per square yard, some of which were deposited on roofs of houses. He collected some in a jar of formalin to distribute to museums. Or there’s a 2017 story from Tampico, Mexico in which fish were said to have fallen during a “light rain.” There’s a link in the show notes to video footage--it’s tough to tell, in my opinion, but the scenario sounds plausible in that it’s not over stated. Director of Civil Protection Petro Granados described it as not a lot of fish--”one here, one there. They’re very small fish, which weigh a few grams.” There are also multiple stories occurring over the course of days in June of 2009 in Japan in which tadpoles and small fish seemed to have fallen from the sky, though they weren’t accompanied by storms or weather disturbances. But there were a ton of verified and photographed --yet inexplicable--sightings. In total, there are 22 stories of fish rains linked on the “Rain of Animals” wikipedia page, three stories of frogs and toads, three stories of spiders, 1 story of worms, and 1 of jellyfish, and this is far from an exhaustive list of examples. 
• Of course, some of those have been debunked, but at the end of the day, it does seem likely that maybe at least one of them is true. And maybe the story from Olneyville is the one!
• Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, share it with family and friends! Or leave a rating or review wherever you get your podcasts. If you have a topic you’d like to hear about, you can email me at Weird Rhode Island at Gmail.com. See you next week as we dig up more stories about all things weird and wonderful in the little state of Rhode Island. Until next time!