Fish—yes, fish—rained down on Texarkana

Ice and snow storms are typical headline-grabbing fare at this time of year, but what about the rare piscine downpour? The Texarkana Gazette reports that, in the middle of recent afternoon storms, the twin cities were pelted with potentially hundreds of silvery fish, some of which were estimated to be seven inches long. “It was hailing and looked like there was about to be a tornado,” one resident said. “And there were fish falling.” What some described as shad—their heads busted open from hard landings—were found scattered across residents’ yards, a high-school football field, and a Discount Wheel and Tire store. A local meteorologist noted that, while unusual, fish falling from the sky isn’t unheard of, explaining that tornadic winds may have picked up the fish from a nearby source and carried them over to the border city. And in case you were wondering, the stench was hard to miss. By one reporter’s poetic account: “When he arrived and opened his car door, maybe an hour after the fact, the air smelled like fish, like the mild scent that hangs outside a fish market or at a fishing dock along a lake.” —Matthew Sedacca