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The Newsletter of the Colorado Herpetological Society

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It's Raining Frogs and Toads!

by Beverly Billings Fenn

The truth is that while frog and toad rainstorms are extremely rare, but they can actually happen. One of these rare events is described in the August 3, 1883 edition of then Decatur Daily Republican: "Cairo, Illinois, August 3 -- Early yesterday morning the decks of the steamers Success and Elliot, moored at the Mississippi levee, were observed to be literally covered with small green frogs about an inch in length, which came down with a drenching rain which prevailed during the night. Spars, lines, trees and fences were literally alive with the slimy things, while the lights from the watchman's lantern were obscured by the singular visitation. The phenomenon, while not entirely unknown, has never been explained, and is causing considerable comment."

Another report about one of these bizarre events appeared in Scientific American magazine, dated July 12 1873. It states: "A shower of frogs, which darkened the air and covered the ground for a long distance, is the reported result of a recent rainstorm at Kansas City, Missouri." Here is an event which no forecaster predicted ahead of time. And just think -- it took place right here in Missouri.

These reports are not just talking about a few frogs falling from the sky; they appear to be describing a downpour! What's more, frogs are not the only creatures which have been reported falling from the sky over the years. There have been many other accounts about falling fish and even a report in a 1930 issue of the magazine Nature that reads; "During a severe hailstorm in Vicksburg (USA) ...a gopher turtle, 6 inches by 8 inches, and entirely encased in ice, fell with the hail."

Imagine what it would feel like to be caught suddenly in a shower of fish or amphibians. Such an experience would certainly leave a lasting mark in your memory. An interesting report by one witness appeared in a 1939 issue of an English journal called Meteorological Magazine. It recounts: "Mr E. Ettles, superintendent of the municipal swimming pool, stated that about 4:30 p.m. he was caught in a heavy shower of rain and, while hurrying to shelter, heard behind him a sound as of the falling of lumps of mud. Turning, he was amazed to see hundreds of tiny frogs falling on the concrete path around the bath. Later, many more were found to have fallen on the grass nearby."

What could cause this shower of creatures? In the October 31, 1942 Buffalo (NY) Evening News, the British Information Service gives the following explanation of a shower of frogs. ...[T]he entire contents of small ponds are sucked up by a certain type of wind -- in the same way that sand is sucked up in a sandstorm, which carries the moisture and the frogs a little distance before they fall to the earth again."

Dr. William Hayden Smith, Professor of Earth and Planetary Science at Washington University in St. Louis, believes these events are peculiarities of weather.

"These frog and toad rainfalls are most likely caused by tornadoes or violent thunderstorms," he explains. "The heavy winds will pass over ponds and creeks and pick up small creatures from the water. They will pull these animals up to high levels in the atmosphere and carry them as the tornado covers hundreds of miles of land. Then, they will drop them to the ground."

When asked about these falling creatures, University of Missouri-Columbia climatologist, Patrick Guinan, compared these occurrences to the July 4, 1995 tornado that swept through Moberly. People north of Keokuk, Iowa found many unopened soda cans that the tornado had lifted from the Double Cola Bottling Plant in Moberly and dropped about 150 miles north near Keokuk. Guinan says these soda cans falling from the sky are just like raining frogs.

Although it may seem like tornadoes are being selective in what they pick up, they don't say, "Hey, let's go get all the frogs or cola cans we can find!", says Guinan. "Instead, they pick up anything in their path. The frogs or cans were just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Smith agrees that many animals of the same type or size may fall during a storm because as the wind travels, heavier items will fall first. When the smaller items drop from the tornado, things that tend to weigh the same will drop together.

Dr. John Snow, Professor of Meteorology and Dean of the College of Geosciences at the University of Oklahoma-Norman, speculates that small tornados or water spouts cause the animals to fall from the sky. As far as the same species falling together, Snow calls this a "phenomenon" -- an unusual, significant or unaccountable occurrence.

"Some stories suggest things that go up together also come down together," he says, "but we really do not know why this happens."

According to Smith, items falling from the sky during a tornado is not unreasonable. He explains, "It really depends on where you live. There are dry areas where dust devils (dust storms) are very common with debris constantly falling out of the sky, and there are other areas that have never seen this type of weather behavior."

And wouldn't you have a hard time believing someone if they told you they saw frogs dropping out of the sky? The Buffalo Evening News reported a story about two boys from Dewitt, Arkansas who were driving home with their parents and saw frogs falling with a heavy rainfall. The next day when they told their teacher and classmates what they had seen, everyone laughed and made fun of them. It wasn't until their mother found written proof of this rare but natural phenomenon that the people at school would believe the kids' story.

So, remember, you can't depend on the weather forecasters to predict every kind of shower. When you least expect it, you may find yourself looking up at the sky and calling out, "Hey! It's raining frogs and toads."