So You Want to be a Storm Chaser?

Aug 05

2009

Posted by Brian Barnes under Learning Leave a Comment

How to be a Storm Chaser? It’s one of the most popular questions that I receive from readers, so I’m creating this multi-part series to help the newcomer who is interested in Storm Chasing. Never attempt to chase a storm unless you are well-trained and well aware of the dangers and feel fully confident in your ability to judge a storm and are able to make quick life or death decisions. Storm chasing usually requires operating a motor vehicle in the vicinty of extreme weather and is dangerous and can cause serious bodily injury and death.

Part I – Storm Chasing and Storm Spotting.

Professional storm chasers are in a lot ways much like the Plains Indians of the 19th Century. They are constantly on the move while hunting and setting up a new campsite each night. But instead of hunting bison through the Tall Grass Prairie, they are after a faster and much more dangerous game – Supercells that can and will spawn deadly, but incredibly beautiful tornadoes as well as other extreme weather phenomena.

Tornado near Attica, KS - May 29, 2004

If you’re like countless other people with a strong passion for the rumbling sounds of thunder and the amazing cloud structure of supercells, you’ve probably considered storm chasing. Its not easy though and getting started can be extremely confusing. There is a lot to learn, not only about meteorology, but also about best chasing practices, interception techniques and even equipment choices. Then there is the cost of the investment – storm chasing is not a “poor man’s game” by any stretch of the imagination, professional chasers travel tens of thousands of miles each month during the highest activity of severe weather.

There are however different ‘levels’ of storm chasing. Some chasers will drive anywhere in the country to find the best severe weather. Others have full-time careers and cannot simply afford the time to live a rather nomadic lifestyle and thus chase locally, or on the weekends when possible. And there are Storm Spotters, while not actually chasers – storm spotters provide an invaluable community service in the areas where they live.

Storm Chasing near Your Home

The easiest way to get started without a massive investment of either time or money is to chase locally. It is strongly recommended that if this is the option you opt for that you contact your local emergency management office in your city or county and inquire about becoming a storm spotter.

Official Skywarn Logo

Storm spotting is different than chasing. Instead of trying to create a forecast and travel about to validate that forecast, storm spotters work with a team of individuals to report severe weather from a predefined location, usually via ham radio. They will in most cases either participate in a controlled radio network operated by the local SKYWARN group, or perhaps communicate directly with a local emergency operations center (EOC) who will then relay their reports to warning meteorologist at the National Weather Service.

Storm spotting is much easier to get into than storm chasing and it’s a great way to get your feet wet and learn a great deal about storm structure and specific storm features that warning meteorologist want to warn the public about. However, most of these storm spotting programs will not teach you about mesoscale convective forecasting, but if you find that you do enjoy being a storm spotter learning how to effectively forecast, target and intercept severe storms is just a step away.

Getting Started

Okay, so you need a vehicle, a bunch of cool flashing lights, a massive heap of antennas on the roof and a big logo that says “I’m a storm spotter” – wrong! In fact, other than just a vehicle that you can use you don’t need any of this flashy “hey, look at me” stuff. What is much more important is the right attitude, a passion for what you’re doing and the willingness to care about the people within the communities that you’re working in.

First things first – Get to know you’re local storm spotting community. Contact the Warning Forecast Office (WFO) of the National Weather Service nearest your location and simply ask for when their next “storm spotting training session” will happen in your local community. Chances are there will be one, but you might have to wait a few months for it or be willing to travel to another nearby community if one is happening there a bit sooner and you don’t want to wait.

Then, find out who your local Emergency Management Director is for your community and make contact with them to let them know that you are interested in volunteering as a storm spotter. They will likely have a set of requirements that you’ll have to meet before they take you on as a spotter volunteer (such as training) but it’s not to difficult to get started.

Next you need a vehicle, and if the Emergency Management Office doesn’t provide you with some form of radio, you’ll either need to obtain a ham radio (and a ham radio license) or you might be able to participate with just your cellular phone – that’s pretty much up to the EOC, but they will usually want to use radio communications instead of cell phones. So, if you don’t have your ham radio license, you should be prepared to obtain one – for that, contact your local ham radio club and your Emergency Management Director can likely point you in the right direction.

Then its all about learning, learning, learning – you first big training session will be conducted by the local National Weather Service Office as stated above. These are usually about a 2-hour course that is a fast-paced “crash course” on storm structure and proper reporting techniques. I recommend you take a tape recorder to the course if you haven’t been to one before and record it so that you can listen to what is said a few times and get the most you can from the material.

Good Ethical Chaser/Spotter Practices

If you’re not going to respect the lives of the people around you then I’ll be blunt – please stay home. Storm spotting is all about helping people and doing so in a courteous manner. While storm chasers have a variety of reasons for chasing (not all are there to help), storm spotters always are out there to help and to serve – it’s that simple.

Storm Chasers with StormTours.com

I have literally been witness to some people who were chasing and have said things to “locals” that made me gasp. Often members of the community will approach and ask if they should be concerned – comments such as “I hope your trailer is tied down” or “You need to leave or die” are simply not acceptable. If you’re approached by someone asking for help or information – you should first of all remain calm, showing any signs of nervousness or erratic behavior is contagious and may cause someone to panic, putting their lives or the lives of people around them in danger. There is no need for that. Just explain to them that you’re a storm spotter with the community and that you’re monitoring the storm to provide severe weather reports and that they should monitor local radio, television or NOAA Weather Radio for more information.

If you are storm spotting you’ll be given a specific location as to where you should be at all times. You have to put a lot of faith in the people that you are working with and remember that they are there to look out for you, while you’re looking out for them. They will be monitoring the storm’s progress using remote sensing tools such as Doppler radar and they know your location. If they need for you to move to a new location, or if they sense that you may be in-danger they will inform you.

You do of course have “Command and Control” over your own life and vehicle and thus if you sincerely feel you’re in danger, you can move your location – but you should always try to make contact with your spotter group before you do. Especially if you don’t feel 100 percent comfortable in your technique to judge a storm. There have been a few cases in the past few years of storm spotters losing their lives because they were not in a position that they were told to be at. It’s all about “team work,” remember you look out for them, and they are looking out for you.

And of course there are safe driving concerns. Storm spotters are out there to help protect lives, not put lives in-danger. So don’t put anyone’s life, including your own, into danger by driving like an idiot. Storm spotters are representing themselves, their local spotting group and storm spotters across the country as a whole – so always remember that and make your community proud of you – not scared of you. The last thing you want to do is damage the reputation of storm spotters and pin them with a negative stereotype.

Conclusion

In Part II of this series I’ll discuss technology and equipment selection for those of you who wish to take the next step and invest in a few pieces of equipment that can further help you out.

In the meantime, take the first step and get to know your local emergency manager and his team, talk to your local ham radio club and inquire about getting your ham radio license. Some people claim that ham radio is a dying technology, but just about every emergency management office in the country will want you to be licensed and knowledgeable about ham radio to effectively communicate with them during severe weather events. Also – find out when your next storm spotter training session is and plan on being there and ready to get started!

But most of all – stay safe!