Tornado Chasers?

[Danny46]

I've actually been meaning to post up a thread about this, as Ive heard a couple people mention it, and the chaos thread reminded me about it lol.

Do we have any tornado chasers on here? Any stories, pictures, etc? I started doing it last year but haven't managed to get one yet. (came pretty close though!) Ive learned a lot since the first time I went and I think I'll be able to see and photograph one this year (I'm into photography).

Why do I do it? Ive always been intrigued by meteorology and I've never seen a tornado in person. I find them quite fascinating.

Anyway if anyone needs a photographer, I am down, if not I'll be out there on my own! lol

[Strychnine]

I work with a guy who was a stormchaser through college and while living in OK (in Houston now)


He has a pic in his office of him holding up his 1 yr old daughter in front of a tornado. "Who the hell took the pic?" I asked...


His wife. LMAO. His parents were piiiiiiissed.

[Steve]

I'd love to try it at least sometime and we're on the season about to start as well.

You really need a truck you don't give a shit about that will get beat to death with hail and lots of money for gas, as well as alot of maps for when your GPS won't work.

I've never seen anything bigger than a F2 in person, I can't imagine what the others would be like.

[SlowLX]

i work with a guy who was a stormchaser through college and while living in ok (in houston now)


he has a pic in his office of him holding up his 1 yr old daughter in front of a tornado. "who the hell took the pic?" i asked...


His wife. Lmao. His parents were piiiiiiissed.

awesome!!!!!!!!

[asphaltjunkie]

I have always had a fascination with severe weather since I was 6 and a tornado rotated it's fat ass down my street and missed my house by about 50yards, and then jumped over 2 airplane hangars (I lived on a small air park in San Angelo at the time) and destroyed the one on the other side of them (these hangars were separated by less than 5 feet on either side, arranged in a triangle). The one that got demolished had 2 planes in it....one was completely totaled...the other had 3 small scratches on it. Been wanting to chase them ever since.

[Captain Crawfish]

never chased them but spend last year running DAL to DEN all spring and saw some killer storms.

[ozzeran]

I have always wanted to do it, but need to get more of a beater this time for it.

[Danny46]

I'd love to try it at least sometime and we're on the season about to start as well.

You really need a truck you don't give a shit about that will get beat to death with hail and lots of money for gas, as well as alot of maps for when your GPS won't work.

I've never seen anything bigger than a F2 in person, I can't imagine what the others would be like.

Haha I was actually using an old beat to shit (but reliable) honda. I never went offroad with it obviously but motor runs good, the paint is fucked and it gets great gas mileage. In my mind an AWD Suburu would be a perfect chase vehicle, quick, low profile/center of gravity. But that could just be the chaser newb in me talking.

Saw some pretty wicked storms/wall clouds last year when I was chasing them in AR, also got some damage pics. I'll see if I can find them. Tell you what, its pretty humbling to go through a wooded area and just see a swath of grown trees gone where the tornado tracked.

[Danny46]

Anyone know of any good forums?

[RWhite]

I use to storm spot with the local Dallas County hams (RACES and ARES organizations). Sam Barricklow's website may be a good start for you. He has done storm spotting for over 30 years and is an expert at this. I bet he can help you.

http://www.k5kj.net/

[SMKR]

I chase when I have time. I follow some local guys and the forum Reed has.

http://www.tornadovideos.net/forum

http://www.texasstormchasers.com/

http://www.stormtrack.org/forum/

http://www.theweathervane.info/forums/f19/

just a few I follow, im always looking to chase, let me know if anyone wants to meet up for a chase, im always game

[jdgregory84]

Good luck! Storm chasing would be cool as hell. Love the show.

Long live Pecos Bill, the ultimate storm chaser!

[Captain Crawfish]

I have always wanted to do it, but need to get more of a beater this time for it.

baseball sized hail ftl

[ceyko]

Reed is hyper to the point of annoying on TV.

Anyway, I'd pay to ride a long even with a chaser and just keep my mouth shut. However, that would require a large time commitment. Either way, I'm not going as an amateur on my own and I ain't gonna get in the way. So I guess I'm not going. Some good science going on there and I truly hope they get better at predicting them.

[Danny46]

Reed is hyper to the point of annoying on TV.

Anyway, I'd pay to ride a long even with a chaser and just keep my mouth shut. However, that would require a large time commitment. Either way, I'm not going as an amateur on my own and I ain't gonna get in the way. So I guess I'm not going. Some good science going on there and I truly hope they get better at predicting them.

Haha yeah I went on my own with a couple buddies the first time, and looking back on it, it was pretty idiotic. Ive learned a lot since then lol but still would much rather go with someone experienced.

Thanks for the links SMKR and RWhite for the links, I will definitely check them out.

SMKR, do you have a chase vehicle or anything? I'll be down to chase for sure. Ive been keeping an eye on the weather and whatnot.