50 Must-See Weather Photos from 2012

On Nov. 21, NASA's Aqua Satellite captured this image showing Alaska's Arctic sea ice just beginning to form, turning water off the coast a dull white color.

Residents of Atlanta, Ga., awoke to a blanket of picturesque, wavy clouds -- stratus undulatus -- on Oct. 12. Shelbi Saine uploaded this pic and tweeted, "Loving the pillow top clouds this morning! Happy #Pride Friday!!"

A tornado touches down on May 24 near Cornlea, Neb. It struck a farm house and caused extensive damage. 

A large dust storm, or haboob, sweeps across downtown Phoenix July 21.

Typhoon Bopha photographed from the International Space Station on Dec. 2 as the storm moved toward the Philippines.

Waves pound a lighthouse on the shores of Lake Erie during Superstorm Sandy Oct. 30.

In July 2012, a massive ice island broke free of the Petermann Glacier in northwestern Greenland.
On July 21, 2012, NASA's Terra satellite captured this image of the iceberg drifting down the fjord. The image has been rotated so that north is toward the right.

The French Alps are seen from Geneva under heavy clouds at sunrise on Dec. 3.

A parking lot full of yellow cabs is flooded as a result of Superstorm Sandy in Hoboken, N.J.

Research students from the the University of Alabama measure wind speeds as Hurricane Isaac makes landfall Aug. 29 in New Orleans, La.

Keith Olbermann uploaded this photo July 12 and tweeted, "Helluva storm. This is the Bloomberg building getting it (no Mayors were injured in the making of this photo)"

A resident of Dordrecht, Netherlands, looks at high water through his window Jan. 5.

Waves break in front of a destroyed roller coaster wrecked by Superstorm Sandy on Oct. 31 in Seaside Heights, N.J.

Tennis fans stay in their spots during a torrential rainstorm at Wimbledon on July 8 in London, England.

A double rainbow appears in the sky as lightning strikes during a severe thunderstorm on May 1 in Hamilton, Ohio.

A powerful storm hit the Northeast July 12. Inga Sarda-Sorensen posted this photo of the billowing clouds and tweeted: "Monster storm rips through #NYC tonight."

Dhani Jones was in an airplane flying over New York City on July 12 when he took this photo and tweeted, "#stormcoming #nyc #isolated I've never seen a storm so concentrated. The power of mother nature!"

Melinda Swinford snapped this photo of a sub-supercell thunderstorm in rural Southern Champaign County near Philo, about six to eight miles away from Urbana, Ill., and uploaded it to flickr.

The sun sets along 34th Street, aligning with the Manhattan street grid, during 'Manhattanhenge' on July 13 in New York. It's dubbed 'Manhattanhenge' and happens twice a year when the sun aligns with east-west streets.

This aerial view shows a power-divided Manhattan in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy.

Strong wind and rain caused by Typhoon Sanba whip across the beachside area in Yeosu, south of Seoul, South Korea, on Sept. 17.

This aerial photo shows homes flooded by Hurricane Isaac in Braithwaite, La., Aug. 31.

Torrential rains bore down on the Philippines Aug. 7 and 8, with deadly floods claiming at least 16 lives. A man carries a girl on his shoulders as they cross a flooded area in Quezon City, north of Manila.

North Carolina 12 is buckled from pounding surf leading into Mirlo Beach in Rodanthe, N.C., after Superstorm Sandy.

A young man and woman swim in flooded St. Mark's Square in Venice, Italy, Nov. 11. High tides flooded the city, leading Venetians and tourists to don high boots and use wooden walkways to cross St. Mark's Square and other areas underwater. Flooding is common this time of year, and the peak of 58.66 inches was below the 63 inches recorded four years ago in the worst flooding in decades.

A shelf cloud moves over Race Point Beach in Cape Cod, Mass., on June 23.

Floodwaters from Superstorm Sandy at the South Ferry Subway station in New York City.

Sea water floods the Ground Zero construction site during Superstorm Sandy Oct. 29 in New York. 

This "fire rainbow," or iridescent cloud, was captured July 31 over South Florida.

An aerial view of the destruction of the Oaklawn neighborhood in Wichita, Kansas, on April 15. The damage was caused by one of several tornadoes that hit the state.

A man crosses Canal Street in the wind and rain from Hurricane Isaac in New Orleans Aug. 29.

At least one waterspout appeared over North Carolina's Outer Banks July 30. John Gaughan tweeted this pic and wrote: "Another amazing picture of the Nags Head waterspout, note the twin mini waterspouts left and right!"

On Oct. 30, Nadiya Anderson uploaded this photo and tweeted, "East Village NYC #Sandy #Hurricane."

The castle and the old bridge are seen over the frozen river Neckar in Heidelberg, southwestern Germany, on Feb. 12. A prolonged period of extreme cold, called the deep freeze, resulted in at least 650 deaths in Eastern Europe in early February.

Rahav Segev uploaded this photo Oct. 30 during Superstorm Sandy and tweeted, "Cars submerged! @ 80 Broad Street #sandy #nyc #flood #frankenstorm #hurricanesandy."

An ice-covered car beside Lake Geneva in Versoix, Switzerland, Feb. 4.

Filipino boys ride makeshift floaters Sept. 16 after Typhoon Sanba flooded low-lying areas of Manila, Philippines.

A thunderstorm passes over Oologah, Okla., on June 5.

Chuck Cropp (center), his son Piers and wife Liz wade through floodwaters in New Orleans from Hurricane Isaac.

A ferry is seen through a haze in central Stockholm on Dec. 3.

High waves hit a breakwater in Kihocho, Japan, Sept. 30 after a powerful typhoon injured dozens of people and caused blackouts.

The remains of a mini-golf course destroyed by Superstorm Sandy is seen at the boardwalk in Point Pleasnt Beach, N.J., on Nov. 8.

Rob Shwartz tweeted this photo taken from an airplane while returning to London, writing, "Epic #CloudPorn over London. http://instagr.am/p/ScuiYwFFgG/"

The setting sun lit clouds and rain from a developing thunderstorm Oct. 13 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

People walk in the Thuringian Forest near Oberhof, central Germany, Oct. 28.

Ron uploaded this photo of the northern lights to Twitter and wrote, "Aurora borealis (northern lights) captured last night by the crew at the summit of Mt Washington pic.twitter.com/ZzhH1aSY"

The Princess Cottage Inn, destroyed by Superstorm Sandy a month prior, remains devastated on Dec. 5 in Union Beach, N.J.

Aerial views of drought-affected farmlands near Strasburg, Co., July 21.