Photos

The Photos That Defined 2020

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A member of the Honduran Air Force hangs from a ladder from a helicopter as he rescues a man following the overflowing of the Chamelecon River after the passage of Hurricane Iota, in the municipality of Choloma, department of Cortes, Honduras, on Nov. 19, 2020. The year's biggest Atlantic storm unleashed mudslides, tore apart buildings and left thousands homeless across Central America, revisiting areas devastated by another hurricane just two weeks ago. (Orlando Sierra/AFP via Getty Images)

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A member of the Honduran Air Force hangs from a ladder from a helicopter as he rescues a man following the overflowing of the Chamelecon River after the passage of Hurricane Iota, in the municipality of Choloma, department of Cortes, Honduras, on Nov. 19, 2020. The year's biggest Atlantic storm unleashed mudslides, tore apart buildings and left thousands homeless across Central America, revisiting areas devastated by another hurricane just two weeks ago. (Orlando Sierra/AFP via Getty Images)

2020 has become synonymous with bad news. The COVID-19 pandemic was the biggest story of the year, but in the last 12 months, there was also a record-setting wildfire season, protests, a contentious presidential election, damaging tornadoes and one of the most active hurricane seasons on record.

We've compiled a slideshow of the top 100 images that graced weather.com this year. It's a painful glimpse at a year that brought loss, first and foremost. As of mid-December, 1.6 million people have died worldwide due to COVID-19. So many have also lost homes and loved ones in severe weather.

(MORE: The 2020 Hurricane Season's Most Remarkable Moments)

Brighter moments captured in the slideshow above, such as this year's Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, are tinged by 2020's changes, as performers don face masks as part of their elaborate regalia during a pre-taping to avoid excessive crowd-gathering. The season's first snow in Boston is photographed, and the Eternal Presence statue outside the National Center of Afro-American Artists is seen with "BLM" – a nod to the Black Lives Matter movement – written in the otherwise untouched snow. Even as people are seen posing in beautiful super-bloomed fields, it seems just a brief respite from drought.

A new year often brings resolutions and hopes for a better future, and that might have never been more true as 2021 approaches.

Click through the slideshow above to see the best images from this past year.

MORE FROM WEATHER.COM: The Most Stunning Damage Aerials of 2020

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An aerial view shows flood waters from Hurricane Delta surrounding structures destroyed by Hurricane Laura, right, on Oct. 10, 2020, in Creole, La. Hurricane Delta made landfall near Creole as a Category 2 storm in Louisiana initially leaving hundreds of thousands of customers without power. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

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An aerial view shows flood waters from Hurricane Delta surrounding structures destroyed by Hurricane Laura, right, on Oct. 10, 2020, in Creole, La. Hurricane Delta made landfall near Creole as a Category 2 storm in Louisiana initially leaving hundreds of thousands of customers without power. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.

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