The most varied weather

We may have identified the places with the highest and lowest temperatures, and the strongest winds. But where in the world sees the most variety in its weather forecasts?

Finding the biggest combination of weather extremes is tricky, but there is no doubt that the bigger your country, the more weather it can have. Smaller countries such as the UK and Japan, parked on either end of the Eurasian landmass, have big seasonal variations. But the US and Russia both have glaciers as well as deserts, and deep snow as well as baking heat. Your author's attempts to find Russia's most variable weather spot have come to naught. So salute Springfield, Missouri, holder of the weather variation record for the US.

Combining measures such as temperature, wind, rain, thunder, humidity and fog, it comes out ahead of everywhere else in the US for weather variety. Part of the reason is that it has no mountains to protect it from freezing air from Canada, or from warm air heading up from the Gulf of Mexico, and it is also in the tornado zone.