One of the most useful aspects of a smartphone is the fact that you can pull everyday information you need straight to your phone. And, of course, nothing is more everyday than the weather.

Every phone comes with a little weather widget, but more often than not, it’s absolutely worthless, ]]>

One of the most useful aspects of a smartphone is the fact that you can pull everyday information you need straight to your phone. And, of course, nothing is more everyday than the weather.

Every phone comes with a little weather widget, but more often than not, it’s absolutely worthless, the equivalent of looking out the window. So we combed the weather apps to find two we liked best, and, best of all, one of them is free.

For basic information and detailed forecasts, we like The Weather Channel’s official app. It’s a fairly simple interface; you punch in your zip code (and it allows you to save all sorts of locations), and it brings up a detailed look at the weather in that location, plus a 36-hour forecast, a ten-day forecast, and any weather alerts in the area. It’s quick, it’s easy to use with a finger, and it’s informative.

For more detail, however, or if you just want to show off, you should pick up RadarScope. For ten bucks, you get access to the same weather radar your TV weatherman uses; in fact, he’s probably using this app. It gives you incredibly granular and detailed information about storms, including weather alerts, and it lets you get a sense of storm intensity. It’s particularly useful when looking at whether or not to drive in bad weather: it gives you a much larger and clearer picture than a TV weather report.

And, of course, it looks pretty. That’s always useful.

I’ve seen a lot of bad weather in my day, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything as terrifying as this storm that sends hail the size of baseballs crashing down in the pool of some guy in Oklahoma. Unreal.

Pool Bombarded by Incredible Hail Storm ]]>

I’ve seen a lot of bad weather in my day, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything as terrifying as this storm that sends hail the size of baseballs crashing down in the pool of some guy in Oklahoma. Unreal.

There are some scary moments during things like hurricanes and tornadoes (been through both), but at least you can run and hide in your basement from those phenomenon. This is just like someone throwing rocks as hard as he can at your belongings and then laughing that you don’t have storm insurance. Does anyone else have video from this storm? Email it to me if you do.

Pool Bombarded by Incredible Hail Storm [Break]

Check out the footage a fan shot while a monster storm rolled into Wrigleyville on Monday night during the Astros-Cubs game. Looks like CGI, but it’s very real, and kinda spooky.

H/T: Goat Riders of the Apocalypse, appropriately.