18 Jun Starfish, Octopus, And Shrimp Rain From The Sky After Severe Storm In China

You’ve heard of it raining cats and dogs, but what about raining starfish and octopus? It’s not an expression. That’s what really happened in Qingdao, China after a severe storm caused various sea creatures to fall from the sky.

Hurricane force winds caused waterspouts to form over the sea, which were strong enough to pick up the animals living under water and toss them into the air, forcing them to rain down over the city and smash into car windscreens, houses, and walkways.

For more information on this freak phenomenon, check out the video below:

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Considering that waterspouts are essentially tornadoes that form over water, it is understandable how something like this might happen. After all, those of us who are familiar with tornados know that they can certainly transport a cow or two.

Seriously, here’s a cow being thrown into the sky by a tornado:

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However, raining seafood isn’t that common, and Chinese social media has been flooded with photos of shrimp, starfish, octopus, and other sea creatures in very unusual places.

According to a local weather source, multiple waterspouts formed on the Yellow Sea last Tuesday, picking up sea animals on their journey toward land. But it turns out getting pelted with starfish may have been preferable to what other parts of China received.

Other areas in the region were hit with hailstones so large they smashed windows and dented cars and buildings. Residents in these areas likely would have gladly taken some shrimp ceviche or a bit of calamari instead.

This isn’t the first time aquatic life has rained down on a city. Last year in Tampico, Mexico it rained fish. Tiny fish splatted down onto the pavement, confusing local residents. However, the event is much more common in a small farming town in Honduras.

There, severe weather causes fish to rain down onto the land at such regular intervals that they hold a yearly festival dedicated to the event. Residents consider it the one time of year they get to eat seafood. “It’s a miracle,” one farmer explained to the Times. “We see it as a blessing from God.”

In Serbia in 2005, thousands of tiny frogs rained from the skies, which weren’t native to the area. Miraculously, the frogs survived and hopped around the streets looking for water. There’s even been an account of golf balls falling from the sky in Florida, likely due to a waterspout crossing a golf course.

Cynthia Barnett, author of Rain: A Natural and Cultural History, writes, “Frog and toad rains, fish rains and colored rains—most often red, yellow or black—are among the most common accounts of strange rain, reported since ancient times.”

She continued, “Still more peculiar rains reported over history have included hay, snakes, maggots, seeds, nuts, stones and shredded meat (that last one is suspected to have dropped from a boisterous flock of feeding vultures).”

So perhaps we should all consider carrying heavy duty umbrellas with us. After all, you know know what could be about to rain down from the skies. It could be a very pleasant springtime shower, or it might be one heck of a very lost and confused octopus.

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