The Texarkana Fish Fall: A Buffet from the Sky

On December 29, 2021, the residents of Texarkana, Texas, were preparing for a standard winter thunderstorm. What they got was a scene straight out of the Book of Exodus, but with a Southern twist. As the clouds opened up, the sound of rain was replaced by the wet "thwack" of hundreds of small white perch hitting the pavement.

How it Works

The science behind this is a waterspout, which is essentially a tornado that forms over water. If the vortex is strong enough, it creates a vacuum that sucks up light objects—including schools of fish or frogs. These unlucky commuters are then carried into the cloud draft and held there until the wind speed drops or the storm moves over land.

Local Reaction

The hilarity lies in the human reaction. In Texarkana, the shock lasted all of five minutes before the pragmatic Texas spirit took over. While meteorologists were frantically trying to explain the physics, locals were on Facebook Live showing off buckets of "sky fish." One car dealership employee noted that "there were fish all over the showroom parking lot," and rather than calling a biologist, they mostly just worried about the smell the next day. It remains one of the few times in history a city's public works department had to include "fish removal" in their post-storm cleanup budget.