Unlocking Nature’s Fury: The Science of Instability

oin Storm Chaser Raychel Sanner as she delves into the captivating world of atmospheric instability. Discover the secrets behind convective available potential energy (CAPE) parameters and other methods of measuring instability, unraveling the mystery of what storm chasers seek in the sky. In this video we break down the different CAPE parameters (SBCAPE, MLCAPE, and…

Chasing Twisters: 5 Secrets to Spotting Tornadoes

In this educational video, we delve into the realm of storm chasing and provide five valuable tips for aspiring tornado hunters. Join us as we explore the science behind tornado formation and learn about the indicators and parameters that can aid in identifying potential tornado activity. Through an in-depth analysis of atmospheric conditions and weather…

Boundaries Are Tornado Magnets: Here’s Everything You Need to Know

Get ready to uncover the secrets behind tornado formation in this captivating video titled “Boundaries Are Tornado Magnets: Here’s Everything You Need to Know.” Join experienced storm chaser Raychel Sanner as she dives into the fascinating world of boundaries and their impact on tornado potential. In this informative presentation, Raychel sheds light on the significance…

Mesoanalysis and Satellite Tutorial!

Satsquatch is one of the best apps for storm chasers on the market today! It features all the mesoanalysis essentials you need and every satellite view you could ever dream of with a customizable drag/pinch/scroll type of map customization to make sure you can see the exact view you want to see. Thanks for reading…

Can You Spot Tornado Lookalikes Underneath Storms?

One of the biggest ‘bad’ storm reporting trends I see are areas of spinning dust under a storm seemingly almost always ending up as a tornado report. This is irrespective of the broader context that said spinning area of dust exists within. If there is an overarching message I’d like this video to get across…

LIVE CLASS REPLAY: Let’s Diagram Basic Storm Structure Together!

Wow! Last night was awesome. Thank you to everyone who came on, watched, and participated in our discussion! Myself (Raychel) and Eugene had a great time talking storm structure and explaining some of the basics to everyone. This was a great time, with lots of questions answered and lots of great discussion about storms and…

This is How To Use Weather Models: Step-By-Step Guide For Beginners

IT IS FINALLY HERE! My guide for beginners to using the very popular weather modeling website Pivotal Weather (you can find it at https://www.pivotalweather.com). While this video is aimed towards beginners, I think there are a lot of small tips for intermediate folks who aren’t quite to the advanced power user stage. I’d certainly recommend…

Tornado Factories: What Are Supercells And How They Churn Out Twisters

Supercells are what storm chasers are after each and every year. Ask any storm chaser what they’re really after out there and it is probably either tornadoes or incredible storm structure — both of those are most common with supercells! These rotating storms pack a punch, creating some of the most dangerous weather on earth…

How I position around storms to get great photos of supercells

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcATU3Rc8tM Storm chasing is a giant game of chess. There are so many decisions I have to make when it comes to chasing storms to get in good position for photos and videos — from road networks to storm mode to storm speed, goodness me! But what if I told you, that despite all of…

The Build Up To A Tornado

Just about every chase season, I get to see a supercell do something terrible and miraculous all at once: produce a tornado. The build up to a tornado in most supercells is pretty predictable. How a tornado forms is just incredible to witness. Check out the video we recently posted highlighting four steps of the…

Forecasting the Chase (With Skew-Ts and Hodographs)

Cameron Nixon is BACK with another mind-blowing talk about how to forecast the chase with skew-Ts and hodographs. This lesson covers a lot of ground and if you are still a novice to skew-Ts and hodographs there are plenty of lessons (linked below) to get you up to speed. Also, this lesson is a prequel…

How to Read a Tornado Watch Like a Pro

Did you know that not all tornado watches are made equal? In fact, tornado watches are issued with enhanced products attached to them like probabilities of different severe weather as well as extended information about the threats of the day. In this video, I’ll walk you through tornado watch text and products and explain how…

Storm Chase Case: Night of the Creepy Twisters

Chasing at night is REALLY difficult — especially compared to daytime chases. When that night chase happens in November in a low CAPE, high shear environment? Buckle up! The November 16, 2015 Tornado Outbreak across the Texas Panhandle into SW Kansas is one of the most prolific tornado outbreaks of the last decade on the…

Storm Chase Case: Why You Should Always Chase the High Plains

If you are, like us, traditionally a storm chaser of the lower plains and southeast US — the High Plains are oftentimes a bit of an afterthought in your seasonal plans. But they shouldn’t be. From a growing library of experience, the High Plains may be amongst the most magical places to chase storms if…

Wall Clouds vs. Shelf Clouds: Understanding the differences

To a beginning storm observer, wall clouds and shelf clouds (and more broadly inflow vs. outflow features) — can be confusing. Both of these storm features look to hang down from storms and oftentimes they can be mistook for one another. However, these two could not be more different. Shelf clouds are products of storm…

The Basics of Storm Chasing in Colorado and the High Plains

This video is meant to be an introductory lesson for those folks just starting to chase and those who traditionally chase the more traditional lower plains of Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, etc. Chasing in the high plains is a different experience which requires less overall on the parameters to have success. Additionally, there are unique strategic…

Storm Chase Case | Chester, OK Tornadoes | April 16, 2017

For our second ever video of this type, we’re taking a look at a day that would challenge any chaser to pick out the right target. This is another Slight risk/2% tornado risk with the dryline in the Texas Panhandle being outlined for a supercell risk. However, because some might call us renegades, we opted…

Storm Chase Case | Needmore, Texas Tornado Warned Supercell | May 4, 2019

Here’s a new experiment for our channel and I hope we can continue to evolve and develop this content type. Today, we’re doing a start-to-finish storm chase case with some thoughts on forecasting, strategy, and storm anatomy throughout. The hope is these become an all-encompassing source of learning as we move forward. So with this…

How I set up my custom camera settings for storms (Camera Tip)

A lot of photographers and videographers overlook a very simple trick with their cameras to create a much more simplified workflow. This trick is using your camera’s custom functions to create a streamlined shooting experience with presets dialed in. Here’s how I set mine up for filming storms… Our camera tips are meant to improve…

Hodographs and Storm Photogenic-ness/Spotting Hazards (Guest Lesson from Cameron Nixon)

The hodograph is a super important tool for storm chasers to master because it can anticipate storm mode and…yes, how they’re going to look and behave. In our first ever guest lesson on Titan U, guest star Cameron Nixon (https://twitter.com/cameronjnixon) takes you through the hodograph and what it looks like to use them to gauge…

Unpacking Sanner’s camera bag and what about this bad pattern? | 4/2/18 | Vlog

The pattern was terrible at the beginning of April in 2018 so that allowed for us to record another vlog. Here’s Sanner talking about their camera gear as we moved into the early parts of the Spring doldrums (which sometimes does happen with a chase season). Let’s unpack the 2018 camera bag! The highlights of…

Some Notes on Chasing a Twister – A Storm Anatomy Guide

Tornadoes are the ultimate catch for storm chasers and the ultimate piece of any severe weather season. But they’re rare — which is another thing all to itself. If you are in the midst of a developing tornadoes, here are some things we look for to indicate a storm is about to produce a tornado…

How to Get the Best Photo Foregrounds in Storm Photography

Hey there fellow storm lovers! Today we’re excited to get our first photo tip type video out to you all, today’s subject is simply “Five Tips to Get Good Foregrounds for Storm Shots”. As with all of our tips (unless otherwise noted) these can be considered universal to photographers and videographers alike! So what makes…

The Types of Weather Models

This long-form course is all about weather models and the different types of weather models. This course covers what each different model type does and what they’re best for when forecasting. If you haven’t done so, be sure to check out our introductory course to weather models, The Hitchhikers Guide to Weather Models. When it…

Why Do Storms Turn Green? Hail? Tornadoes? Aliens?

Aliens? Surface of the ground? Hail? How about…none of the above (except maybe aliens). The answer actually lies within a simple trick of light. Storm clouds are inherently blue and sunlight tends to be orange or red — put those two colors together and you end up with green of some sort. So not magic….

What are updrafts and downdrafts?

From the NWS Glossary: Updraft – A small-scale current of rising air. If the air is sufficiently moist, then the moisture condenses to become a cumulus cloud or an individual tower of a towering cumulus or Cb. Downdraft – A small-scale column of air that rapidly sinks toward the ground, usually accompanied by precipitation as…

What is the rear flank downdraft?

The rear flank downdraft (RFD) is a key ingredient in tornado formation in supercell thunderstorms. The RFD is a region of air (usually dry) subsiding on the back side of a mesocyclone that then wraps around the mesocyclone. It is often visible as a clear slot wrapping around the wall cloud.

What is a wall cloud?

Check out this definition from the NWS Glossary: A localized, persistent, often abrupt lowering from a rain-free base. Wall clouds can range from a fraction of a mile up to nearly five miles in diameter, and normally are found on the south or southwest (inflow) side of the thunderstorm. When seen from within several miles,…

What are shelf clouds?

Shelf clouds are usually associated with the leading edge of storm outflow — this is usually a sign of a line of storms or an HP supercell. Often, rising motion is seen at the front of the shelf, with the underbelly of the shelf being quite turbulent.

What are anvils?

Anvils are the flat, spreading top of a cumulonimbus cloud. Thunderstorm anvils may spread hundreds of miles downwind from the thunderstorm itself. Sometimes, they may even spread upwind.

A Primer on Tornado Formation…

How tornadoes form is one o the biggest questions facing atmospheric scientists today. However, we do know a lot of the ‘whys’ of tornado formation. Most tornadoes form from what we call supercell thunderstorms. These storms have a rotating updraft known as a mesocyclone, which creates the processes necessary for tornado formation.

What are landspouts?

Not all tornadoes originate from a mesocyclone or even a supercell. One type of non-supercell tornado is a land spout. Landspout tornadoes occur as the parent storm cloud is in its growth stage with the spin originating in the boundary layer of the storm.

Choosing a Storm Chase Target: Warm Fronts

When it comes to warm fronts there’s a real love/hate relationship storm chasers possess with them. On one hand, some incredible cyclic tornado machines have occurred on them — on the other they can be quite fickle when it comes to getting the right ingredients to come together. Let’s learn about them! Why Warm Fronts…

Choosing a Storm Chase Target: Triple Points

When it comes to storm chasing, dry lines may be the bread and butter of targeting — but triple points are oftentimes the bullseye that demands attention. This region is also often an overlooked target for new storm chasers. Don’t ignore it. The triple point is usually where the dryline meets a warm front or…

Choosing a Storm Chase Target: Ingredients to look for

Making a successful storm chase forecast and getting the best storm chasing targeting involves a lot of work. Severe storms need lift, ample wind shear and ample instability to sustain themselves. Hence, a lot of the work in forecasting storms hinges on these three ingredients. These main ingredients make up the fundamental elements you always…