Fishnado? Rain in Tampico, Mexico Included Small Fish
Posted on September 28, 2017
Northeastern Mexico received small fish as precipitation on Tuesday. The fish fell from the sky along with a light rain in the coastal city of Tampico. Tampico is port city located in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas on the western Gulf of Mexico.
Evidence of the fish rain was posted on Facebook by the Protección Civil Tamaulipas. They call it a curious case of small fishing falling from the sky with a light rain. It shows a tiny fish that fell on a sidewalk and a bag with four other specimens.
Mexico has experienced a couple large earthquakes lately but these are not related to the fish event. The cause is thought to have been a waterspout. A CBC story notes that there have been stories throughout human history of fish and other animals falling from the sky. It says scientists believe waterspouts can suck fish out of the water and then deposit them on the coast.
Dr. Christopher Baird, an Assistant Professor of Physics at West Texas A&M University, answers the question "Can it rain fish?" on his website. He cites a book by Bill Evans, called It's Raining Fish and Spiders, that says creatures fall from the sky about forty times per year. The creatures include fish, frogs, snakes, worms, crabs and other small animals.
The phenomenon is greatly exaggerated in Syfy's Sharknado films. In this case it was just a small fishnado.