The Perils of Storm Chasing

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On Sunday, November 29th, The Discovery Channel showed the final episodes of the third season of Storm Chasers.  In those episodes, the chasers got very close to, or even inside tornadoes. 

I was approached by several this week telling me what they thought what they saw was “cool” and how they would like to “try it.”

I can’t state too emphatically what a terrible idea this is. 

The people in those espisodes were experienced meteorologists in armor-plated vehicles specially shaped to aerodynamically resist wind.  An ordinary vehicle would be overturned or carried away. 

This photo, a screen capture from KSNW-TV news film, shows a minivan pulled off the Kansas Turnpike, thrown into a field, and thrown back across the Turnpike by a F-2 tornado on April 26, 1991.  The people inside were seriously injured.  

It is not always obvious a tornado is forming or approaching your immediate area.  Here is a photo I took of an approaching tornado in 2003 near Lyndon, Kansas.  The tornado was close enough that I could hear it.  Could you recognize the tornado, through the haze and heavy rain, in time to get out of its way?


I’m not convinced the chasers in the armor-plated vehicles would have survived an F4 or F5 tornado.

If you want to chase, there are companies like Tempest Tours and Silver Lining Tours that will, for a fee, take you storm chasing and will keep you as safe as possible.  Please do not endanger yourself and clog highways trying to chase storms.  

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