PECULIAR NATURAL PHENOMENONS

RAIN OF ANIMALS

There have been numerous bizarre cases of animals falling from the

sky. In the summer of 2000 in Ethiopia, millions of fish suddenly fell

from the sky. In June 2009, Japan, it rained frogs and in Argentina in

2007, people had to protect themselves from a shower of snakes.

Most of these “animal rains” are attributed to tornadoes and other

types of severe storms capable of lifting and carrying bodies of water.

MUMMIFYING LAKE

Located in northern Tanzania, the Lake Natron is a salt and soda lake

notorious for its extremely high content of salt and scorching

temperatures of up to 60 C (140 F). Though some animals have

managed to adapt to the harshness of the lake, most animals that

venture into these waters find themselves victims of the lake’s

mummification ability.

RAINBOW EUCALYPTUS

Scientifically known as Eucalyptus deglupta, the rainbow eucalyptus is

a 6 foot (1.8m) wide and over 200 foot (61m) tall tree. The tree is

characterized by its unique multi-hued bark.

ICE STORM

Few things can be more bizarre than the weather. An ice storm, for

example, is a type of winter storm characterized by freezing rain.

Frozen precipitation melts to rain while falling into the warm air layer

and then begins to refreeze in the cold layer below, covering

everything with a heavy, smooth glaze of ice. One of the most

memorable ice storm ever recorded hit the city of Geneva,

Switzerland in January 2005.

SNOW CHIMNEY

A type of fumarole, an opening in the planet’s crust that emits

steam and gases, the snow chimneys are basically remains of

little snow-covered volcanoes and occur in many arctic areas.

As soon as the steam and gases leave these vents, they freeze

and eventually, get covered with a thick layer of snow, turning the

volcanic vents into the snow chimneys.

FIRE WHIRL

Known by several other names such as fire tornado or fire twister,

the fire whirl is a whirlwind induced by a fire and often made up of

flame or ash. Often taking shape of a tornado, the fire whirl rotates

around a core where the temperature can reach up to 2,000 °F (1,090 °C)

hot enough to potentially reignite ashes sucked up from the ground.

A fire whirl observed in Australia during the 2003 Canberra bush fire

had a diameter of nearly 500 meters (1,600 feet).

RUNNING ROCKS

Also known as sailing stones or moving rocks, the running rocks

refer to a bizarre geological phenomenon in which rocks move and

inscribe long tracks along a smooth valley floor without any human or

animal intervention. The origin of the phenomenon is not completely

clear yet but scientists suggest the movement might be caused by a

strong wind that pushes the stone on a thin layer of clay or wet soil.

The heaviest running rocks that have been reported weighed about

700 pounds (almost 320 kg).

POROROCA WAVE

The Pororoca wave is an up to 12ft (4 metres) high tidal wave

that travels as far as 500 miles (800 km) up the Amazon River.

The longest wave in the world forms only twice a year from February

to March, when the tides of the Atlantic Ocean meet the mouth

of the Amazon. Although surfing the Pororoca is extremely dangerous,

as the water contains a significant amount of debris from the river

(often entire trees), surfing the wave has become a popular sport

among local people.