Hailstones Have Been Found with Turtles Inside

While tales of frogs or fish raining from the sky sound like folklore, this bizarre phenomenon has a scientific basis in extreme weather. The key lies in the immense power of supercell thunderstorms. In some of the most intense cases, these unwilling passengers don't just fall with the rain; they can become the very core of giant hailstones, offering a frozen (Review) snapshot of the storm's incredible journey.

The process begins when a powerful updraft, sometimes associated with a waterspout or small tornado over a body of water, lifts lightweight creatures high into the atmosphere. Once carried thousands of feet above the freezing level, the animal acts as a large nucleus. Supercooled water droplets instantly freeze onto its surface, and as the object is tossed within the turbulent cloud, it collects successive layers of ice, growing larger with each cycle.

Eventually, the resulting hailstone becomes too heavy for the updraft to support and plummets to the ground. This is how small turtles, fish, and other aquatic life have been found perfectly encased in ice after a severe hailstorm. It's a rare but dramatic testament to the raw lifting power of Earth's most violent storms, capable of transporting life from a pond into the frozen heart of a cloud.