FILE – FOX Weather suggests ways to tell if weather photos that go viral are real or fake. And, photographer and storm chaser Paul Smith explains what AI is doing to his industry.
As 2024 comes to a close, FOX Weather wanted to highlight some of the most viral videos of the year.
It’s been a year of crazy weather moments, including back-to-back hurricanes, earthquakes, severe weather, snowstorms and floods.
Hurricane Helene mudslide caught on camera
Hurricane Helene hit the southeastern U.S. in late September; 231 lives were lost. Stories of survival, loss and recovery have prevailed in the months since the storm. Videos of the devastation showed the storm’s impacts with extensive flooding in mudslides in North Carolina.
One such video shows some of the aftermath, when a mudslide came tearing through, nearly taking out a couple’s car while they were driving on Interstate 40 through the Blue Ridge Mountains. “Whoa!” one person says in the video, as the car’s rearview camera caught the mudslide blasting down the mountain and burying the highway with mud and debris.
WATCH: I-40 MUDSLIDE TRIGGERED BY HELENE NEARLY TAKES OUT COUPLE IN BLUE RIDGE MOUNTAINS
Dashcam footage shot on Friday morning shows the moment a couple barely escaped a mudslide that came crashing onto an interstate in North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains. (Courtesy: Alan Keffer via Storyful)
Tornado crosses Florida road during Hurricane Milton
In a video captured as Hurricane Milton was making landfall in Florida, a tornado passes over a highway, shocking drivers. The massive funnel hits powerlines as it crosses the road, causing power flashes. “Look at that!!” exclaims Morgan Guigon, as the phone recording the video is stuck out the car window.
Hurricane Milton hit Florida on Oct. 9, spawning a tornado outbreak and extensive flooding across the state.
‘LOOK AT THAT!’: POWER LINES FLARE AS CHILLING TORNADO CHASES DRIVER IN WELLINGTON, FLORIDA
Broken power lines flashed as a tornado quickly spun across a road in Wellington, Florida, on Wednesday, amid Hurricane Milton’s approach. The footage here, by Morgan Guigon, shows a tornado crossing Southern Road in Wellington, which is in Palm Beach County.
Saildrone captures inside of Hurricane Beryl’s fury
Saildrone, Inc., partners with NOAA to go inside the heart of hurricanes and analyze their attributes. This hurricane season, Saildone went into several hurricanes, including Hurricane Beryl.
In this video, the Saildrone recorded massive waves, measuring 25 feet high, south of Puerto Rico. The drone bobs along the surface of the ocean as rough seas surge around it. At the time, Beryl was a Category 5 storm. Beryl made landfall in the U.S. in early July as a Category 1.
SAILDRONE CAPTURES VIDEO OF HURRICANE BERYL’S FURY IN CARIBBEAN
Saildrone Inc. said its uncrewed surface vehicle captured waves heights of 25 feet south of Puerto Rico. Hurricane Beryl was a Category 5, at the time, the strongest any hurricane had been in June.
Magnitude 4.8 earthquake rattles New Jersey, New York
The strongest earthquake in 240 years to hit New Jersey and New York occurred on April 5. The magnitude 4.8 surprised residents and reached as far as New York City. Dozens of videos were recorded of the shaking.
A coffee shop in Boonton, New Jersey’s security camera caught workers and customers reacting to the shaking, getting up from their tables and walking out the door. Other videos show things falling off shelves and dogs reacting to the quakes.
NEW FAULT LINE DISCOVERED UNDER NEW JERSEY MAY EXPLAIN UNUSUAL SHAKING FROM APRIL’S 4.8 QUAKE
Residents in more than a dozen states felt Friday’s magnitude 4.8 earthquake but when compared to seismic records, it wasn’t the greatest quake to impact the Tri-State region.
EF-4 tornado demolishes building in Nebraska
The series of tornadoes that struck Nebraska and Iowa on April 26 caused significant damage and included the strongest twister to hit Nebraska in 10 years. One video captured the storm as it moved into Lincoln, Nebraska, destroying an entire manufacturing plant. The dashcam video shows trees blowing as the tornado moves in. Seconds later, rain and wind pick up, shaking the car.
The building’s roof is ripped off as the tornado comes into view. The video shows the funnel’s debris flying past, and within 40 seconds, the entire building is destroyed and the skies clear.
Miraculously, the car with the dashcam recording the entire saga wasn’t damaged.
DESTRUCTIVE NEBRASKA TORNADO FROM APRIL UPGRADED TO STRONGEST STATE TWISTER IN A DECADE
Incredible dash-cam video from a parked car shows the April 26 tornado dismantling a building in Lincoln, Nebraska. Amazingly, the car was fine while the building was destroyed.
Fireball lights up North Carolina sky
In late August, more than 150 reports were made of a bright fireball lighting up the night sky in North Carolina, according to the American Meteor Society. A compilation of videos captured the fireball as it moved across the sky, casting a bright white light on the ground below.
One of the clips shows a parking lot from different angles lit up by the fireball, which also caused a sonic boom. In the clips, you can see the fireball moving from the camera’s view as the illumination fades. After the event, the American Meteor Society said the asteroidal fragment weighed around 1,000 pounds and was about 2 feet in diameter before disintegrating over North Carolina.
WATCH: MASSIVE FIREBALL SPOTTED OVER NORTH CAROLINA, MUCH OF APPALACHIA
Cameras across North Carolina and Tennessee captured a streak of bright light across the night sky early Friday. The American Meteor Society received around 140 reports of people both seeing and hearing the event.
Casket found floating through raging Hurricane Helene flooding in Tennessee
Hurricane Helene devastated multiple states upon landfall in Florida. The storm traveled north, impacting states as far inland as Tennessee. In the days after the storm, horrific flooding took place, wiping out roads and bridges and washing away towns and buildings. Seventeen people were killed in Tennessee.
Among the hundreds of tragic situations brought to attention after Helene, one video of a casket rushing down high floodwaters in Erwin, Tennessee, was especially devastating. The casket was later recovered among debris from the storm, officials told FOX Weather.
WATCH: CASKET RUSHES BY IN RAGING TENNESSEE FLOODWATER CAUSED BY HELENE
Video shows a casket floating down rushing water in Erwin, Tennessee after historic rainfall caused by Hurricane Helene.
North Carolina home collapses into surf after Hurricane Ernesto
In August, swells produced by Hurricane Ernesto off the East Coast wiped out an unoccupied home on the shores of North Carolina’s Outer Banks. In a video taken after the collapse, the home floats on the ocean‘s surf, as onlookers express their shock. “Oh my God! Oh my God!” one person yelled in the background.
This was one of five North Carolina beach homes that collapsed into the Atlantic this year. Since 2020, at least 10 Outer Banks homes have collapsed into the ocean, according to the National Park Service.
WATCH: HURRICANE ERNESTO’S SWELL CAUSES NORTH CAROLINA HOUSE TO COLLAPSE INTO OCEAN
Video taken Friday from North Carolina’s Outer Banks showed a house falling into the Atlantic Ocean. Scenes of unoccupied homes collapsing have become a common sight along the coastline due to severe erosion. (Chicamacomico Banks Fire & Rescue)
Ambulance narrowly escapes collision on Massachusetts interstate during nor’easter
On Feb. 13, a nor’easter blasted the Northeast with more than a foot of snow, causing travel disruptions all along Interstate 95. During the storm, a Massachusetts ambulance driver transporting a patient dodged a rollover crash that crossed over the interstate and nearly hit the ambulance as it drove down the road.
Tim Crosbie was the ambulance driver and managed to stop his vehicle to help the other driver who had crashed. Crosbie told FOX Weather the person in the car was talking to him and had no visible injuries. “We were able to get him out of the car easily, and I’m glad that he’s doing very, very well,” Crosbie said at the time.
WATCH: MASSACHUSETTS AMBULANCE NARROWLY AVOIDS ROLLOVER CRASH ON I-95 DURING NOR’EASTER
Cataldo Ambulance Service paramedic Tim Crosbie describes how he dodged a car that rolled over toward him on Interstate-95, all while he and his partner were transporting a patient in his ambulance. Feb. 14, 2024.
Yellowstone National Park geyser explodes
Yellowstone National Park is known for its spectacular geysers, hot springs, wildlife and other amazing sights. In July, one geyser in the Biscuit Basin went through a hydrothermal explosion, blasting debris and rocks all over the walkways, sending park visitors running.
No one was injured by the explosion, but several videos and photos captured the moment. After the explosion, the walkway and area surrounding Biscuit Basin were closed to the public.
WHAT CAUSED THE EXPLOSION AT YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK? GEOLOGIST WEIGHS IN
A hydrothermal explosion happened at a geyser in Biscuit Basin in Yellowstone National Park, destroying a boardwalk.