Correspondent Carolyn Thompson and freelance photographer Jeffrey Barnes worked with colleagues across the United States when a historic blizzard whipped up devastation in Buffalo, New York. They combined to get real, on-the-ground stories and visuals of survivors. Thompson was snowed in at her home, but she was able to help run the story and report the chilling number of deaths in a city so accustomed to monster snowfall. She also wrote a smart explainer, detailing why the storm was so deadly. The storm prevented Barnes from driving, so he walked around his Buffalo neighborhood, getting the AP valuable imagery.
In Dallas on Christmas Day, Jake Bleiberg wrote the story and kept track of news conferences. Jennifer Peltz in New York City helped form the story in the days following Christmas. Efforts were helped along with colleagues like Steffanie Dazio in Los Angeles, Ken Ritter in Las Vegas and photo editor Don King in New York City.