Still Life with Robin: "The Stormys" - Best Storm Photos of 2020

Photo by Forest Wander (Creative Commons)

by Peggy Robin

It’s awards season and while the big thing of the season is universally acknowledged to be the Academy Awards for the best movies of the previous year, I would like to take this opportunity plug one of the lesser-known award shows -- "The Stormys" -- given annually to the best stormchaser/photographer and to the best individual photograph taken of a storm in 2020. One reason why you may not have heard of "The Stormys" is that the March 31, 2021 awards event was the first time "The Stormys" had ever been presented

I have to confess, I did not watch the show live; everything I know about it came from the superb coverage of the event by The Capital Weather Gang on March 31, 2021:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2021/03/31/top-weather-photos-2020/?fbclid=IwAR20APX1T4numTjetXgiuYA85LC8ZMewU84Y6X-Y7HFYfvEBBedJ1yp5olU 

But there actually is a physical trophy that gets handed to the winners. You can see :The Stormy" in this little video clip:
https://twitter.com/i/status/1375600785346625538   

Now, I won’t call it ugly….but wait, I can’t think of any other word for it, so yes, that thing is ugly.

On the other hand, the photograph taken by the winner of the “Photographer of the Year” award is stunning:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=https://arc-anglerfish-washpost-prod-washpost.s3.amazonaws.com/public/I7OTNQK7UZGEBKIOEP3JHQ2CVI.jpeg&w=916  

You can view the work of all the nominated photographers here:
https://www.stormphotocontest.com/2020-photographer-of-the-year-finalists/ 

And for the best individual weather photo of the year….the STORMY goes to:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=https://arc-anglerfish-washpost-prod-washpost.s3.amazonaws.com/public/PK3VX6GIXFDJ5OYNWCXQQUZHRA.jpg&w=916 

To see all the finalists and also-rans, scroll down the page at:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2021/03/31/top-weather-photos-2020/?fbclid=IwAR20APX1T4numTjetXgiuYA85LC8ZMewU84Y6X-Y7HFYfvEBBedJ1yp5olU 

Just FYI: the last one, of the small clapboard house alone on a plain in Taiban, NM with bolts of lightning forking behind it, would have won my vote for Best Storm Photo of the Year.

And now, just to prove that Washington,DC can produce its own award-worthy images of stormy weather....here's an undated photo of lighting off in the distance, and cherry blossoms around the Tidal Basin:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bb/Cherry-blossom-lightning-washington-monument_-_Virginia_-_ForestWander.jpg 

Looking forward to a balmy springtime!

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Still Life with Robin is published on the Cleveland Park Listserv and on All Life Is Local on Saturdays.