Nearly every ancient polytheistic culture had gods of the weather. Most of us are aware of Thor, the god of thunder, but there were gods of the wind and rain and lightning and more throughout North and South America, Africa and Asia. Weather has always fascinated and confused mankind. And even today, when we can explain it all with science rather than the whims of all-powerful beings, there are still phenomena that pop up every so often to baffle the best of us, some of it not strictly weather at all. So with that in mind, let’s check out 10 of the freakiest weather phenomena in the world.
10. The Kentucky Meat Shower
Rest assured, it does not routinely rain meat anywhere in Kentucky. But that doesn’t mean it never happened. And when you learn the whole story, you’ll wish it just was meat rain because that’s far less disgusting than the truth of this perplexing event.
There was a day back in 1876 when the people of Olympia Springs were treated to a show of meat from the heavens that was said to be fairly substantial in size. One witness described it as a “horse wagon full” which was not a literal measurement, just an 1876 way of saying “a lot.” It covered a space 100 yards by 50 yards.
So the people came out to see the meat, which fell in small chunks and scraps. A few brave and/or foolish souls opted to taste test the meat as well to see if they could figure out what it was.
The meat was sent for analysis and while most locals lost interest, one scientist did come up with an explanation. The meat was from vultures. Which is to say they ate it and then, as they took flight, they vomited it across the town.
Turns out vultures, when panicked, will throw up everywhere. This makes them lighter and allows for a quicker getaway. Based on the condition of the meat, the theory fits the details.
9. Watermelon Snow
Watermelon snow sounds like it should be delicious, but we recommend not putting it in your mouth should you ever see it. It’s less of a tasty, refreshing treat than it is snow laced with algae called Chlamydomonas nivalis. Unlike most algae, which is happy to grow in stagnant water or ponds, this kind just likes snow. And while technically you can survive eating small quantities of it, you’ll probably get diarrhea for your troubles.
It’s usually what’s known as a summer snow algae, meaning it flourishes in snow that stays in high altitude places into the summer months when lower altitude regions are enjoying warmer weather. It forms reddish pink streaks or pockets through the snow that can be mistaken for blood. The red part actually protects the algae from UV radiation.
8. Star Jelly
There’s a good chance you could market a product called Star Jelly as a breakfast food, but that’s neither here nor there. In real life, star jelly owes its origins to a potential cornucopia of sources thanks to the fact humans tend to lump mysterious slime all into the same category.
While folklore suggested it fell from the sky (hence the name), the fact is star jelly may come from numerous places and some of it could potentially be dangerous. It may be as simple as the oviducts of frogs or gelatinous, aquatic Bryozoa clustered together. Some times of fungus may form into jelly-like clusters, especially if they’re rotting, and even slime molds fit the bill.
7. Atmospheric Rivers and Lakes
A relatively new discovery, atmospheric lakes and rivers are very much like what they sound like. The concept of atmospheric rivers is a little older than lakes and they are pretty remarkable. Able to reach lengths of 1000 miles while stretching 400 miles across, an atmospheric river is a stream of water vapor in the atmosphere that can dump a heck of a lot of water when they come down. Up to the equivalent of 25 Mississippi rivers. If that’s a little too intense for you, then there’s the more recently discovered atmospheric lake.
Similar to an atmospheric river but not as fast moving, an atmospheric lake is a vast pool of water vapor in the clouds. It is, in effect, a lake in the sky. Unlike the river, which sounds very intense, an atmospheric lake discovered over the Indian Ocean was believed to have enough water held within it to create a puddle 620 miles wide, but only a couple of inches deep. They move in areas with almost no wind at all and form in equatorial regions near coastal areas. They can also last nearly a week as they slowly float along, bringing rains to often very dry and arid places.
6. Sun Dogs
Anything with a name like a sun dog has to be at least a little bit cool and luckily this rare phenomenon really is. You have to be very lucky to find a sun dog as conditions need to be exact. The right angle is needed, in this case 22 degrees. There have to be ice crystals in the atmosphere inside of cirrus or cirrostratus clouds. If the clouds and you, the viewer, are in the right position, then what you get is a sun dog or mock sun.
The effect of a sun dog is that the sun looks to be surrounded by a massive halo of light and, on either side of it at the halo’s edge, another sun is visible. Depending on how it’s viewed, they can appear to have spikes or coronas coming off of them. So three suns together, with the other two often appearing a little smaller than the actual sun overall.
5. Condo Fog
Man made climate change is a hotly debated topic these days, but if you still weren’t sure that humans can affect the weather, then take a look at condo fog for the most visual example of this that you’ll ever find.
Famously occurring in Panama City, Florida, condo fog is what happens when hot, moist air hits a man-made wall of condominiums. It rolls in off the Gulf of Mexico and then, breaking against the wall of apartments, it rises into the air and cools down, creating a wave of white fog.
Air cools by about one degree celsius for every 100 meters of altitude it gains. The condos forced the air up about 50 meters to get past them, but that half degree temperature drop was enough to make it condense into clouds. Once it hurdles the building, the temperature changes back and the clouds evaporate, leaving the condos and just the condos enshrouded in mist.
Though it’s interesting to see it happening over buildings, it’s very similar to the phenomenon that leaves mountain peaks covered in fog as well. We just accept it as more normal when we see it on mountains and not buildings along the coast.
4. Steam Devils
A dust devil is what happens when a patch of dry ground heats up more than the ground around it and the rising air begins to circulate like a sort of weak tornado, bringing the dust up off the ground with it. It’s not the most common phenomena but many of us have at least heard of it. It’s not the only weather devil out there, though. The much rarer but equally stygian steam devil is in some ways the opposite of its dusty cousin, occurring over bodies of water or damp ground rather than dusty patches of land. They’ve been observed forming on frosty grass when the sun hits it and begins to warm the frozen surface to create the temperature difference needed.
Like a dust devil, it’s formed when conflicting air temperatures create a vortex. In this case, the water on which a steam devil forms is typically warm when a blast of colder air reaches it. The warm, moist air from the water rises into the cold air and begins to rotate, drawing up water vapor from below. They usually don’t grow very tall, often just a couple of meters in height.
3. Lluvia de Pecas
Animal rain is a weird phenomenon to be sure, but there’s so many articles on it these days that it’s easy to stumble on explanations. Typically, the reason things like fish and frogs fall from the sky is related to waterspouts sucking animals out of a body of water and displacing them elsewhere or just flash floods, making it look like they fell after a storm. But the fish rain known as lluvia de pecas in Yoro, Honduras, works a little differently.
Yoro has the distinction of enjoying regular fish rain. It happens once or twice a year and has been witnessed by teams from places like National Geographic. Or, at least, in part it has. They couldn’t confirm the fish falling from the sky, but they did see fish on the ground.
The small, silvery fish that appear are not a local species. They also appear to be blind. That has led some to speculate that they populate an underground river and, during particularly violent storms, they are forced to the surface during floods and left on the ground. This would account for why they are always in the same place rather than all over, such as if a waterspout was depositing them.
2. Blackbird Shower
History is riddled with tales of animals falling from the sky. The lluvia de pecas is just one example of many. It rains frogs and also tadpoles. Spiders have been known to fall like rain and maggots, too. And in 2022, hundreds of yellow-headed blackbirds fell from the sky over Chihuahua, Mexico.
Unlike many of the animal rain events that have happened in the past, the blackbird incident was caught on camera, so you can see it happen firsthand and it’s pretty dramatic. The birds crash like someone dropped them by the bucket load and sadly, many of them didn’t survive the fall. But why did it happen in the first place? Frogs at least have an excuse for falling when they get up into the air, but birds can fly.
Though it’s just a theory, the most plausible explanation seems to be that the birds were “flushed,” which is to say a large, predatory bird likely swooped at the flock and, in a panic, they all dove as fast as their little wings could carry them. The result was an ill-timed escape that saw too many hit the ground too fast.
1. The Chi’yang Event
Weather can be terrifying and deadly. It’s said that the Galveston Hurricane of 1900 killed between 8,000 and 12,000 people. In 1970, the Bhola cyclone may have killed as many as 500,000 people. Around 20 people per year are killed by lightning in the United States. And a few people have even been killed by hail. But what about some other devastation from the sky? How deadly is it when it rains fire?
In the year 1490, the people of Ch’ing-yang, China, were witness to what is now believed to be an exploding asteroid. At the time, however, it was considered a rain of rocks peppering the countryside with death and destruction.
It’s believed at least 10,000 people died in the event. The stones that fell were said to weigh between 1 and 1.5 kilograms. In more understandable terms, some were supposed to be the size of water chestnuts while others were the size of goose eggs. But they were also falling from space and their speed must have been incredible.
Historical reports of the incident are considered to be reliable and there is precedent for objects breaking into many thousands of pieces, which could explain the death toll if it happened in a populated area.