Deitra McKenzie
Deitra McKenzie is a Chief Meteorologist at WTOK-TV in Meridian, MS. She earned the AMS designation of Certified Broadcast Meteorologist in 2010, but she’s been forecasting the weather for a little more than 20 years. She is constantly fascinated by the weather, and she loves when people capture the essence of weather in amazing photographs. She’s honored to serve as a judge for this year’s AMS Photo Contest.
Anthony Yanez
Anthony Yanez is the Chief Meteorologist at KPRC 2 News in Houston, a role he returned to in 2022 after a seven-year stint at KNBC in Los Angeles. A graduate of the University of New Mexico and recipient of the 2026 Lobo Award, Anthony began his career in sports before transitioning to weather, eventually earning seals of approval from both the AMS and NWA. His decorated career includes two Emmy Awards and the 2022 AMS Award for Excellence in Science Reporting. Beyond the screen, he is a published children’s author and a dedicated educator through his WeatherLab outreach program, where he uses his book, A Wild Ride on the Water Cycle, to teach students about meteorology. An avid athlete, Anthony frequently competes in triathlons and cycling races when he isn’t forecasting Houston’s dynamic weather.
Chris Cappella
Chris Cappella, meteorologist and journalist and former Senior Content Manager for BAMS, is now Senior Content Manager for the new AMS Headlines website. An avid hurricane and tornado chaser, he documents every mission through photos and video, including flying with NOAA scientists into hurricanes. Formerly Senior Weather Editor for USA TODAY, Chris has been chasing storms, including blizzards and rainbows, for more than 40 years—27 of which also included photographing lightning near his home in Florida. He is honored to be a judge for the 2026 AMS Photo Contest.
Amy Howard
Amy Howard is a severe weather photographer and storm chaser based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Growing up on Long Island, New York and experiencing Hurricanes Gloria, Bob, and Andrew as well as recurrent nightmares featuring lightning at a young age shaped her fascination with weather. After attending the University at Buffalo in the mid 1990s for Fine Arts, Amy relocated to the endless skies of the southwest where a keen interest in photography was born when she became a wife and mother. Monsoon lightning photography became a hobby in 2010 as she channeled the adrenaline caused by fear into an addiction that now fuels her as she pursues supercells across the Plains region of the US each severe weather season, with much gratitude to her family and friends for their support in these endeavors.
Amy’s passion for capturing scenes authentic to her experiences in an artful way has helped her succeed in juried art shows and storm photo competitions, winning the top spot for Storm Photographer Of The Year in the Stormys competition of 2022 after placing third in 2021- 2021 Storm Photo Contest Winners Announced. She has judged photo competitions previously for the Weather Band contest and locally for ANMPAS’s Shades Of Gray . Grateful for a flexible work life in the real estate photography sector, Amy also enjoys imaging traditional and intimate landscape, abstract scenes, and occasional infrared and astrophotographic images throughout New Mexico and surrounding states. Her work can currently be viewed online at https://enchantedwx.darkroom.com/ and in person at https://www.abqphotogallery.com/.
Walt Lyons
Walt Lyons, CCM (retired) has probably snapped over 250,000 weather and environmental photos for research and fun. He created the Photo of the Month feature for Weatherwise Magazine, served as the Photo Editor for the Fort Collins Digital Camera Club, and curated a stock photo/video website. He is a Fellow and past president of the AMS.
