Tornado Titans

Want your ad here? Check out our sponsorship page for more!

How to Storm Chase

This is the question asked quite often by a lot of different people. Your first required reading here should be the Tornado Titans FAQ. We answer many of the most common questions about chasing there, but if you've already read that page -- and you want some more info -- this is your page.

Our first recommendation: Do not try this without first going with an experienced chaser.

Why? Because Storm Chasing is dangerous. As with any other activity, the pros make it look easy and safe -- but the simple fact is that between lightning, hail, well over hurricane force winds, hydroplaning, muddy roads, flash flooding and of course tornadoes, there's more than enough to mess up your day.

This isn't to say you shouldn't chase, but that you should carefully consider it before you ever jump in. Another huge problem is that there are simply way too many people on the roads under Supercells today. As these numbers grow, the risk of serious accidents also grows. Storm chasing is quickly becoming an exercise in driving in traffic jams with the worlds most dangerous weather bearing down upon you. Many found out on May 10, 2010 that chasing storms moving at highways speeds in chaser traffic jams is a potential death trap as many were hit and their vehicles severely damaged by a tornado near Wakita, OK!

So do not assume that chasing is easy and risk free: it's anything but that. Your risk of injury goes up exponentially in accordance to your inexperience.

How to Storm Chase

The key test as to whether you are ready to chase storms or not is probably and most easily answered by: do you believe you can be seriously injured and perhaps die from these storms? If you believe the risk of either of the aforementioned is negligible then you probably lack the respect needed of the weather to chase safely and effectively. People who get close to tornadoes consistently and come out with great video have spent years practicing their craft before becoming as good as they are. Your successes will be few and far between initially.

To help with your success here are a few practical tips which you should always follow:

Always make your own forecast. There are a lot of people who get up and check other people's forecasts and make their target based off of that. Many even settle in the middle of graphical risk zones and hope for the best. While this will work out sometimes, it will not maximize your chances. The only way you can become effective day in and day out is to make your own forecasts. If you find yourself disagreeing with more experienced forecasters it either means you see something they don't or you simply are making a bad forecast -- but the pros miss forecasts all the time. We saw 11 tornadoes on May 21, 2011 when paid Forecasters were not seeing much of a risk of tornadoes. Then there was the dirty dozen tornadoes we captured on May 24, 2008 -- a day where even general thunderstorms weren't in the forecast!
Do not chase in a vehicle you want to save. Hail destroys vehicles. Realize that before you leave the house. If you chase in your vehicle it is going to get beat up by hail. Learn it, accept it, move on.
Learn to recognize tornadic surface patterns. There are certain surface patterns that typically result in big tornado days which can fool forecasters all of the time. Many of our greatest triumphs occured on days where familiar tornadic surface patterns (outflow boundaries, frontal positions, etc.) set up and then scored big.
Learn the most important word for a chaser, "NO." There comes a time when you go from being a hardcore chaser to being downright stupid for going out on some days. There are some patterns, such as in an atmosphere worked over by an MCS, where pro forecasters will outlook a good risk of tornadoes and nothing will happen almost regularly. You need to learn these patterns and most certainly learn to say no to some setups.
Don't forget about your health. It's easy to eat really terrible on the road. This is more of a personal well being tip to help you along through an entire season. If you eat like a pig during a busy season, you can gain 20lbs or more in a two month period. That's NOT healthy. You should learn what restaurants offer the most healthy options at the fastest pace. Also learn the best options at convenience stores. Your health is more important than any tornado!
Don't committ too early. A lot of chasers close their options off really quickly in the chase, this is especially true for newbies. Just because a field of towering cumulus appears ready to pop 100 miles away doesn't mean you should be there when the whole dryline could light up. There is a time when it's time to move, and that time is different from day to day. But simply going to the best looking area as you leave the house will close off a whole host of options on many days -- and that can result in you missing the best action of the day (did we mention make your own forecasts?).
Stick to your guns. Learn to forecast...yes. But also learn to stick to your forecast. Too many people are swayed out in the field by a simple outlook change. If you feel your forecast is on track, don't worry about what everyone else is saying. Trusting someone else to do your forecasting is NEVER a good idea.
Get your head out of the computer. Mobile internet is a wonderful tool, but the most important piece of equipment you will possess in your chase excursions will be your eyes. They will tell you all you need to know about what's going on with the atmosphere around you. It'll be apparent if the cap is holding, breaking or whether a storm is gaining strength or floundering. If you cannot chase without a computer, you are going to fail a lot. Why? Because cell phone internet services (as of 2011) still have a weird tendency to not work when you'd most need them. Learn to chase visually before you learn to chase with a computer.
Yelling is kind of lame. A lot of people see chasers yelling and acting like general clowns when exciting weather is occuring. That's fine -- and that video can sometimes sell -- but you'll also look back upon that video with a general sense of disdain after a couple of years. You'll probably be asking, "Why did I ruin that video with my high pitched skreechy voice stating the obvious?"
Lastly, and most importantly, learn to chase responsibly. Pull off the road completely, don't block roads, there are other people with other goals who might need to use that road. Lord, there may be a farmer who is trying to get home to his family. If you block the road, he may not appreciate it and worse, may remember it if/when you need help getting unstuck someday. Chasing is becoming a circus, but if you read this and decide to make the circus more chaotic instead of focusing on your fellow man and chaser -- well that makes you a little less awesome in our book (and many others). Just learn to do the little things that'll make everyone's experience nicer, ok? Get it? Got it? Good.

Of course, this is far from a comprehensive list. But these are the general tips we'll pass along. As far as how to forecast and all the other jazz you might want to know, the internet is full of those types of resources. Sharpen your google skills and get to work chaser!!