geografia: Rain of animals

Evidence: 100 • authority: 72

Animal rain is a rare meteorological phenomenon in which flightless animals fall from the sky. Such occurrences have been reported in many countries throughout history, an example being the lluvia de peces, a phenomenon that has occurred many times in Honduras. One hypothesis is that tornadic waterspouts sometimes pick up creatures such as fish or frogs and carry them for up to several miles. However, this aspect of the phenomenon has never been witnessed by scientists.

Evidence: 47 • authority: 72

A tornado, also known as a twister, is a rapidly rotating column of air that extends vertically from the surface of the Earth to the base of a cumulonimbus or cumulus cloud. Tornadoes are often (but not always) visible in the form of a condensation funnel originating from the cloud base, with a cloud of rotating debris and dust close to the ground. Most tornadoes have wind speeds less than 180 kilometers per hour (110 miles per hour), are about 80 meters (250 feet) across, and travel several kilometers (a few miles) before dissipating. The most extreme tornadoes can attain wind speeds of more than 480 kilometers per hour (300 mph), can be more than 3 kilometers (2 mi) in diameter, and can s…