extremeweatherphotography

There are few things more exciting than a car in the middle of a storm chase, with clouds overhead and adrenaline pumping.

On Monday, March 15, 2021, a record-breaking sandstorm descended on northern China, engulfing cities including the Chinese capital, Beijing. In recent decades, northern China has suffered from sandstorms as a result of increasing desertification in the north of the country which is largely dry, arid, and covered with deserts.

This past weekend, the Royal Meteorological Society unveiled the winners of the fifth annual Weather Photographer of the Year competition, selecting an overall winner, Young Weather Photographer of the Year winner, and a People's Choice winner from over 7,700 submissions.

I first became interested in storms when I was a boy growing up in Texas, the only state in the US that experiences tornadoes, hurricane and blizzards on a regular basis. I built a scale model of a supercell thunderstorm inside a clear plexiglass box using cotton and a light bulb for lightning, and won first place in the weather category at our local science fair. Then I got permission from my mother to climb onto our roof and build a weather station.