Weather.com's Best Photos Of 2024

Photos

These photos tell the story of 2024's most impactful weather.

Nicole Bonaccorso

•

December 20, 2024

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From wildfires and intense heat, to devastating hurricanes and tornadoes, weather dominated the news in 2024. And for every beautiful image of the aurora borealis or a stunning rainbow, more images surfaced of destroyed homes, land suffering from drought and burned property after wildfires.

Hurricane Helene's wrath from Florida to North Carolina was one of the biggest weather stories of the year. And it was followed close behind by Hurricane Milton, with people in its path barely able to clear the debris before the second storm hit.

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This year is on track to be the hottest year on record, according to the World Meteorological Organization, which sparked countless droughts and fueled wildfires across the globe. As we wait to see what 2025 has in store, it's clear that climate change has taken its toll already.

Scroll through the images below to see what we consider the most impactful weather photos of 2024.

The Bridge Fire is seen as it exploded in size from four square miles to 73 square miles in single day, racing up the San Gabriel Mountains toward the ski resort community of Wrightwood, on Sept. 10 2024, near Glendora, California.
(David McNew/Getty Images)

Three buildings stand completely destroyed by storm damage. Storm debris is piled up in the foreground. — Damaged structures are seen in downtown Chimney Rock, North Carolina, on Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024, after the passage of Hurricane Helene.
(Allison Joyce/AFP via Getty Images)

A round of thunderstorms produced this lanky tornado on April 16, 2024, in Rockwell City, Iowa. This image was taken from a video of the event.
(Kannon Kalton via Live Storms Media)

Chris Boswell #9 of the Pittsburgh Steelers kicks a field goal through the snow in the third quarter of the game against the Cleveland Browns at Huntington Bank Field on Nov. 21, 2024, in Cleveland, Ohio. The Browns beat the Steelers 24-19.
(Lauren Leigh Bacho/Getty Images)

An emotional Payton McClure hugs her black and white dog against a background of tornado debris. — Payton McClure hugs her dog Jack after he was found in a pile of tornado debris in Sulphur, Oklahoma on Sunday, April 28, 2024.
(Blake Anthony Seale)

A drone image shows the dome of Tropicana Field which was torn open due to Hurricane Milton in St. Petersburg, Florida, on Oct. 10, 2024.
(Bryan R. Smith/AFP via Getty Images)

A Southwest Airlines plane flies through a rainbow. — A Southwest Airlines plane flies through a rainbow as it departs from Sacramento, California, on Feb. 19, 2024.
(Josh Edelson/AFP via Getty Images)

The orange glow of flames is seen through every window of a home, with smoke obscuring the view. — A Riverside home burns as a fire roars through Riverside County.
(Jon Putman/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

A man in a green shirt stands with arms folded on top of tornado damage next to a lopsided home. — The Crowder family surveys their home destroyed by a tornado on May 7, 2024, in Barnsdall, northeast Oklahoma. The EF3 twister that struck claimed one life and destroyed dozens of homes in the community of just over 1,000 people.
(Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

Floodwaters are seen up to the bottom of a first floor window of a home. Residents are bailing the home out with pails and throwing it out the window. — People toss buckets of water out of a home as the streets and homes are flooded near Peachtree Creek after Hurricane Helene brought in heavy rains overnight on Sept. 27, 2024, in Atlanta, Georgia.
(Megan Varner/Getty Images)

The aurora borealis is seen lighting the night sky up blue, green and pink behind a palm tree. — The aurora borealis graces the night sky in Hastings, Florida, on Oct. 10, 2024.
(Logan Parham)

An aerial photo shows tornado damage on either side of a road. — An aerial view shows devastation left behind after a tornado tore through town on the afternoon of May 22, 2024, in Greenfield, Iowa.
(Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Snow piles up around the entrance doors of homes after over two feet of heavy lake effect snow on Dec.1, 2024, in Derby, New York.
(John Normile/Getty Images)

The ground cracks in front of Alibeyköy dam, Istanbul's largest dam on Nov. 12, 2024, as Turkey experiences drought. At the time this photo as taken, the city had only 85 days of water left.
(Berkman Ulutin via Getty Images)

ANOTHER HOUSE COLLAPSE IN OUTER BANKS.jpg — This was the third of four homes to collapse into the sea along Cape Hatteras National Seashore in North Carolina this year. The home collapsed on Sept. 20, 2024. (Cape Hatteras National Seashore)

Light pillars are seen in the sky above bare trees. — Light pillars, a phenomenon only seen in extremely cold weather when moisture is in the air, are photographed in Alberta, Canada, on Nov. 25, 2024.
(Dar Tanner via X)

The top left corner of a home is torn off, revealing furniture and wires. Storm damage is scattered in the foreground. — A home destroyed by Hurricane Beryl bakes in the midday sun on Monday off Blue Water Highway in Surfside Beach, Texas, on July 8, 2024.
(The Washington Post via Getty Images)

0427_enormoustornadodebris_wkd_edit.00_00_47_15.still006.jpg — A powerful tornado rips through Lincoln, Nebraska, causing a massive debris vortex on April 26, 2024. (Adam Lucio via LSM)

An aerial photo shows a sprawling tree is seen growing again after fire damage, with a burned out building in the foreground. — In an aerial view, the recovering historic banyan tree, which was planted in 1873 and burned in the 2023 wildfire, is seen next to the remains of the Old Lahaina Courthouse, bottom center, on Aug. 3, 2024, in Lahaina, Hawaii.
(Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Manasquan Reservoir, which supplies that supplies drinking water to 1.2 million New Jersey residents, is seen as it dropped below half empty on Nov. 20, 2024.
(Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu via Getty Images)

The roof of a warehouse is torn open and the interior is revealed. — People assess wreckage after Hurricane Francine swept through the area on Sept. 12, 2024, in Houma, Louisiana.
(Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

Icicles hang from a Lake Superior ice cave. — Icicles hang from Apostle Sea Cave in Lake Superior on Dec. 13, 2024.
(George Ilstrup)

A leveled home is seen in an aerial view with surf creeping up. — An aerial view shows a destroyed home in Surfside Beach, Texas, on July 8, 2024, after Hurricane Beryl made landfall.
(Mark Felix/AFP via Getty Images)

Ice is seen traveling down the Aroostook River in Washburn, Maine, after a 5-mile-long ice jam broke apart earlier than expected as rising temperatures moved into the area.
(Meteorologist James Sinko via Storyful)

Elena Gonzalez, 37, looks at their burned-out home after Hurricane Milton's landfall on Oct. 14, 2024, in Fort Myers, Florida.
(Eva Marie Uzcategui for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

These photos tell the story of 2024's most impactful weather.

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