Best Of MetaFilter

Image of the F5 Sayler Park/Bridgetown tornado taken near Bridgetown Ohio, just west of Cincinnati, on April 3, 1974.

On April 3 and 4, 1974, thunderstorms spawned more than 100 tornadoes, killing more than 300 and injuring another 6000: backwoods has spun up a whopping megapost on the 1974 Super Outbreak, the most violent tornado outbreak in recorded history, and the changes it wrought.

Albert Bierstadt - A Storm in the Rocky Mountains, Mt. Rosalie via Wikimedia Commons

Fascinating: 19th Century Scientists Set Out to Solve the Problem of American Storms. In the comments, plastic_animals posts about Cleveland Abbe (first head of the US Weather Bureau) and his daughter, artist Elfriede Abbe, and Mefite johnabbe shows up to talk about his great-aunt Elfriede!

99,1 Fahrenheit by Philippe Gillotte (cc by-nc-nd)

Brandon Blatcher has an ☀️excellent☀️ set of tips for dealing with the heat, including RECOGNIZING WHEN YOU'RE ABOUT TO DIE and RECOVERING FROM THIS FUCKING HELL. Good roundup.

Crepuscular rays at dawn over the Normandy coast by TeaMeister (cc by)

Eisenhower then makes the biggest call of his life and an example to leaders everywhere: He trusts the expert ... A really great analysis by garius of Blacksod, D-Day, the planning, the storm, the leaders, the meteorologists, the arguments and the massive intwining, nerve-shredding drama of it all.

the shallow breath of summer by Mitchell Haindfield (cc by)

Tehhund is seeking websites or accounts that document the changing seasons, such as "what annual things are happening in the natural world daily / weekly / monthly ... like different animals starting migration, different flowers blooming, etc." and, relatedly, dusty potato asks for books, apps, or curriculums to "guide me through nature."

inside elevation by parramitta (cc by)

Why does Wyoming have such a low population compared to neighboring states? barchan explains, jeb adds: "everything in the West comes back to water".

Ever wonder what a "nor'easter" is? Check out the great answers from Seymour Zamboni, plastic_animals, and weathergal in rules of thumb for weather patterns in the USA.

Lots of different places have unique colloquial weather terms too. (Gullywashers, the foxes' wedding, and lots of wind terms again from barchan.)

Also in language surveys: What are some antiquated place nicknames (like the Borscht Belt)? What do other languages call it when your foot "falls asleep"?

Different cultures also have their own languages of flower-meanings. Plus some cool info from sukeban on how new imported flowers like roses made their way into kimono designs in the late 19th century.

For geography/history detectives: How can I tell, just from clues in the document itself, when a world map was made or figure out when a photograph was taken?

Did you see the new photos from the formerly-hidden-from-visitors North Korean subway system?

Some great answers in travel threads recently: Italy: non-traditional but amazing?, and also Scotland: what not to miss.

#Snowpocalypse Atlanta 2014 - traffic by William Brawley (cc by)

How a few inches of snow turned into an eight hour traffic jam.

Transmitter Array by Modern Relics (cc by)

You might have been watching TV before and heard an emergency alert interrupt your show with information on weather or news. A similar new text messaging system will soon be online to warn you of severe weather alerts (and a mysterious Presidential Alert). Turns out there are several levels of interruption including the most serious, a total takeover of the US airwaves by the President. MeFi member eriko explains it all:

Despite the fact that really the only message the President would send is "So this is it. We're all going to die," the capability remains, and by law, is required to remain. So, WEA may allow you to block advisories, like AMBER alerts (CAE -- Child Abduction Emergency, but sent with an Advisory/Statement flag) but you will not be able to block an EAN.