Look at the top 10 meteorological phenomena that left 2021 5:58
(CNN) -
A shower of fish fell in East Texas, but it's nothing out of the ordinary.
Earlier this week, Texarkana residents reported that small fish fell from the sky in what looked like a vintage weather event.
The reality was more mundane: The swimmers, many of them the size of the palm of your hand, were likely picked up by a waterspout and fell back to earth as it lost momentum, the city told residents in a publication by Facebook.
Fish showers are an example of "animal rain," the city explained, and "although rare," it can happen when the weather is right and the fish are light enough.
The animals did not originate in the sky before it started to rain, of course, but were picked up off the ground by powerful waterspouts, which start in the air and move towards the surface of the water.
As these spikes gain momentum, the vortex in the center of the waterspouts can begin to pick up small, lightweight objects, including fish.
And when the waterspout loses power, those little objects fall back, explains the Library of Congress.
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Updrafts (super strong winds) are more powerful than waterspouts and can catch animals larger than skinny fish, according to National Geographic, including birds, bats, frogs and snakes.
Texarkana residents were, by all accounts, relatively baffled by the strange weather event.
Tim Brigham told CNN affiliate KSLA that he thought it was "very cool" to see tiny fish falling from the sky and also useful;
He said "I got a bucket and started collecting them as fishing bait."
Discount Wheel and Tire employees walked away from the tires and instead began cleaning the tray of surprise seafood from their parking lot.
Others shared photos of their own backyard fish finds after the city's Facebook page asked them to "show us your fish photos."
Most of them were no larger than the palm of the hand of the resident who took the photo.
Texarkana's animal rain may be one of the only recorded cases of the phenomenon in the state, but California last saw the same thing in 2017, when elementary school officials in Oroville reported that 100 fish fell from the sky on the property of the school.
Fish have fallen from the sky in the town of Lajamanu in Australia's Northern Territory at least three times in the past 30 years, according to the Weather Channel.
