And the LORD spake unto Moses, Go unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Let my people go, that they may serve me. And if thou refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all thy borders with frogs: And the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly, which shall go up and come into thine house, and into thy bedchamber, and upon thy bed, and into the house of thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thine ovens, and into thy kneadingtroughs: And the frogs shall come up both on thee, and upon thy people, and upon all thy servants ... And Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt. And the magicians did so with their enchantments, and brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt.

—”Exodus” 8: 1-7

Have you ever seen frogs raining from the sky during a torrential downpour? I haven’t, but I have had participants in my natural history workshops who swore that they had witnessed this phenomenon.

Some written accounts mention the invasion of frogs described in “Exodus” as being the first description of the event. But that was clearly a plague of frogs that clambered up from the Nile and made a massive land attack.

According to Brent McRoberts of Texas A&M University, “There are reports of it raining frogs, fishes and even snakes going back almost 2,000 years. In the past 300 years, many of these have been carefully documented and witnessed by dozens or even hundreds of people .... In 1873, parts of Kansas City were covered with tiny frogs that had dropped from the sky.”

In an article titled “It’s Raining Frogs and Toads!” published in “The Cold Blooded News” (January 1998), Beverley Billings Fenn noted another instance that occurred in 1883 in Cario, Illinois, as described by a local newspaper: “Early yesterday morning the decks of the steamers Success and Elliot, moored at the Mississippi levee, were observed to be literally covered with small green frogs about an inch in length, which came down with a drenching rain that prevailed during the night. Spars, lines, trees and fences were literally alive with the slimy things, while the lights from the watchman’s lantern were obscured by the singular visitation. The phenomenon, while not entirely unknown, has never been explained, and is causing considerable comment.”

The Smokies region has also experienced falling frogs. In a chapter titled “Frog Rains Mighty Common” that appeared in his My Mountains, My People (1957), John Parris related a conversation he had had during a rainstorm with William Riley Tallent, who was, in reality, Parris’s maternal grandfather, but is referred to as “The Old Man” in the book.

“‘Reckon you’re acquainted with frog-rain ... What’s that? Never heard tell of it ... Why it’s the kind of rain that rains frogs and little bitty fish and worms.’

“‘Why many’s the time I’ve seen it rain frogs and redworms and fish. Not all at the same time. This is that kind of rain. Just wait till it stops and then get out and about. Why the ground’ll be covered with little bitty frogs not much larger than your thumbnail ... Now, if it didn’t rain ‘em, I ask you where they come from?’

“‘Reckon you’ve got your doubts,’ he said. ‘Don’t know as I blame you. But folks would learn a lot of things and see a lot of strange sights if only they’d pay attention to what goes on about them.’”

As to the actual cause, Brent McRoberts observed that, “The most generally accepted explanation is that small creatures, such as fish or frogs, are sucked up high into the air by either very strong thunderstorms or tornadoes. Over the ocean, a waterspout — a tornado that forms over water — can produce strong enough winds to carry small fish into the air, and this can also happen over large lakes. There are instances of some of these creatures being carried long distances because there was no water nearby.”

Another observer speculates that, “Away from coastal areas, frogs and toads are more frequently swept up because sizeable inland swamps or marshy areas can easily be cleared out by storms.”

George Ellison is a writer who lives in Bryson City. He wrote the biographical introductions for the reissues of two Appalachian classics: Horace Kephart’s Our Southern Highlanders and James Mooney’s History, Myths, and Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees. Readers can contact him at P.O. Box 1262, Bryson City, N.C. 28713, or at ellisongeorge@cs.com.