Selected Internet Resources
for the Beginning Storm Chaser

The selection of resources on this page reflects the opinions of its author only. Many pages either citing or cited by this page have disclaimers; please read them. I don't have a disclaimer because nobody is stupid enough to sue me. I won't try to encourage or discourage you from chasing storms, but if you are going to chase, I encourage you to learn as much as you can about storms first. There is an impressive and growing amount of interesting material on the Internet, but there are even more complete sources off the internet. Here are two excellent lists of recommended outside reading:

Educational Materials for Storm Chasers (Tim Marshall/StormTrack Online!)

Suggested New Chaser Reading Material (Tim Vasquez/StormTrack Online!)

My thanks go out to those who have made the information cited in this review available to the public. Affiliations or journal names listed next to authors' names do not necessarily imply that the web page cited was prepared in connection with duties for, or with the approval of, those organizations.

Copyright notice: this list is dedicated to the public. Use it, cite it, copy it, repost it, do whatever you want with it. You can't steal it, since it is already yours. The pages that I cite have their own copyright policies, so please check with those authors first before using their materials.

• Thunderstorms and Tornadoes: A Brief Introduction
• An Introduction to Storm Chasing
• The Anatomy of a Thunderstorm: What You Will See When You Chase

• Finding the Storms I: NWS Forecast Products
• A Little Bit of Theory
• The Forecaster's Toolbox
• Finding the Storms II: Preparing Your Own Forecast

• Severe Storm Case Studies and Chase Reports
• Hurricanes and other Tropical Storms
• Other Sources of Information
• Information about Careers in Weather

A well prepared basic introduction to tornado science and safety.

Special reports from ABC News and TWC. About what you'd expect from special reports from ABC News and TWC.

Articles describing various aspects of thunderstorms and tornadoes.

Undergraduate class materials introducing thunderstorms by Paul Sirvatka at College of duPage. *

Article with an overview of tornado science and a storm chase case study.

The VORTEX project uses mobile radars to study the formation of tornadoes. This site is heavy on multimedia and a bit too cute for my taste, but it provides a great deal of information on this extremely important project. Additional information is available at the VORTEX home page (National Severe Storms Laboratory).

Lots of tornado information from leading tornado climatologist Tom Grazulis. See, for example, the excellent page explaining the Fujita scale of tornado intensity (and compare it to the independently-derived T scale).

Thought-provoking essays by a leading storm researcher.

Tornadoes are not unique to North America.

Article describing one particularly tragic tornado. The Woodward tornado, storm researchers, and storm chasers are the subject of Bedard's book In the Shadow of the Tornado, which is, in my opinion, by far the best popular book about storms and storm chasers I have read.

A look at a two important forms of long-lived storms, from the Cooperative Program for Operational Meteorology and Training, Morris Weisman and Ron Przybylinski.

If you read nothing else before you chase, please read these articles. And see Tim Marshall's list of Storm Chaser Safety Rules (StormTrack Online!).

They're called severe storms for a reason.

Great places to start learning about storm chasing.

A classic essay and more recent thoughts by a pioneering storm chaser.

Informative FAQs that covers many aspects of chasing.

In April, Wayne Curtis was a journalist covering storm chasing. By June, he was a storm chaser. These are his dispatches from the field.

A few of my favorite chase summaries, filled with Gilbertisms. The first (which I have slightly edited), from Gilbert's early days, illustrates how not to chase storms (tip: always have your escape route planned). As for the second... if you think chasing is just about seeing tornadoes, think again... it's really about drinking cola with friends in the bar at the dryline Holiday Inn. The third gives you an idea of what to expect on a more typical chase--once you're experienced. More chase reports are filed at the SCH Storm Chaser Reports page.

The reality of storm chasing is less dramatic than the Hollywood version. Then again, I think our storms are much more impressive than the film versions.

A brief essay describing the important role of storm spotters and telling you how to join their ranks.

One way to learn to chase, or just to experience the thrill (and the boredom, too) without all of the legwork, is to let an accomplished professional guide you on a storm chase tour. Doris Grazulis of the Tornado Project described her experiences on a tour here. Tornado Alley Safari is New Age oriented.

Full disclosure: Cloud Nine is owned and operated by a friend of the keeper of this page.

Article describing one particularly adventurous storm chasing adventure.

Thoughtful essay on the experience of women in storm chasing by Shannon Key, with responses.

• Some Basic Elements of Photography (Charles Doswell) *
• Outdoor Photography Advice (Charles Doswell) *
• Lightning Photography (Charles Doswell) *
• Tornado Photography Tips (Greg Stumpf) *
• Film Recommendations (Philip Greenspun) *
• An Evaluation of Slide Film Brands for Storm Chasing (Roger Edwards) *

• Scientific Quality Video and Photography (Dave Blanchard) *
• Storm Chaser and Spotter Video Tips (Chris Novy) *
• Video Tips for the Storm Chaser (Greg Stumpf/Tim Marshall) *

Short, illustrated introduction to cumulonimbus (thunderstorm) clouds. You will probably want to study the other clouds in the University of Illinois Cloud Catalog or the Plymouth State College Cloud Boutique.

Short, illustrated guide to the major features of severe thunderstorms.

Very nicely done pamphlet.

Excellent series of slides with text showing thunderstorm features, recently revised. The original version, which I prefer, is here.

An illustrated look at major storm features from veteran storm chaser Gene Moore.

Glossary of terms used to describe severe storm features by Michael Branick. Recently revised, limited illustrations. Extremely useful. Paul Sirvatka of College of duPage compiled another good, shorter glossary. See also the Oklahoma Climatological Survey's Weather and Climate Glossary. * You can find information on many weather concepts listed alphabetically in the University of Illinois' On-Line Guide to Meteorology Helper Section Index and USA Today's Weather Topics Index; or try a search of the Washington Post's Weather Glossary, * the Weather Channel's Weather Glossary * or Environment Canada's Weather Glossary. *

Tornadoes are hardly the only interesting feature of severe thunderstorms.

SPC Products Page (graphic, text, and plain English versions; College of duPage)
SPC Forecasts (graphics and text; Storm Prediction Center)
SPC Weather Data (plain English and graphics; Ohio State University)

The Storm Prediction Center is the department within the NWS charged forecasting severe storms (except tropical storms and hurricanes) in the 48 contiguous states. SPC publishes a number of convective forecast products of interest to storm chasers. Their products are described in Chris Novy, Roger Edwards and David Imy's SPC and its Products. See also Help With Severe Weather Text * by Paul Sirvatka at College of duPage. Pioneering Storm Chaser David Hoadley takes a look at chasing by the Day-Two Outlook in this article (David Hoadley/StormTrack Online!). In fairness to the SPC, their risk analyses are not designed to facilitate storm chasing.

SPC is also publishing an experimental probabilistic outlook * for tornadoes, hail and high winds. This product is explained here. *

Several current products * of the Hydrometeorological Predictino Center are of similar use to storm chasers;  explanations of the products are found here *

Hint: The SPC meteorologists are among the finest severe weather forecasters in the world, and they publish their analyses every day. While you study other materials, read the convective outlooks and mesoscale discussions--and look at the meteorological data yourself (how to do that is discussed below). It is a little like learning a language by immersion--you might not understand anything at first, but as time goes on, your expertise will grow.

Interesting items to compare are (1) the forecast Energy Helicity Index * and 700mb Vertical Velocity (Unisys Weather), (2) NGM MOS severe thunderstorm probabilities * and (3) Dave Keller's Day-2 severe weather forecasts *, each of which is based on computer model output.  If you are bored, you might want to compare the SPC products to the WSI THUNDERcast * or the Weather Channel's Thunderstom Forecast map. *

Severe Weather Watches, which indicate that conditions are favorable for the development of severe weather, can be found in text form on the SPC Products Page (College of DuPage) and graphically here (College of duPage) and here (Storm Prediction Center). * Severe Weather Warnings, which indicate that severe weather has developed and threatens the warned area, are available in text form from College of duPage and directly from the National Weather Service. The NBC TV affiliate in Washington DC has a nice graphical watch and warning interface covering the entire United States at its Storm Display System™ site. *

Hint: If you are close enough, you can move into areas with severe thunderstorm or tornado watches during a chase, but you need to think carefully about how long it will take to get there. Warnings are issued for individual storms or convective complexes. If you are not already on that storm (or happen to be very lucky), forget about chasing warnings.

This page, courtesy of the NWS Western Region Headquarters, has a clickable map of NWS offices. Local NWS offices publish all sorts of interesting information (I'm especially fond of forecast discussions); several publish daily Hazardous Weather Outlooks. You can find most of their text products, organized by state, here * (NWS IWIN), here * (Ohio State University), here (College of duPage) * and on Al Pietrycha's Weather Data site.

The Aviation Weather Center is charged with forecasting weather for aviaton interests. Since pilots (including the author of this page), birds, etc. as a rule do not car to fly into thunderstorms, we pay a lot of attention to Convective SIGMENTS (which are explained here). You may find them useful in finding the storms we are trying to avoid.

24 pages of NWS speak-English dictionary. The Storm Prediction Center also maintains a list of contractions they use in their plain-english text products here.

There are two basic types of weather stations, upper air stations (from which soundings are taken of various properties of the atmosphere by releasing instrumented weather balloons) and surface stations, at which surface readings are taken. Most of the surface stations are at airports and share the airports' identification codes.

Both surface and upper air stations listed in three common formats--three letter aviation identifiers, four-letter ICAO identifiers, and 5-digit WMO station numbers. ICAO identifiers are generally the same as the three letter identifiers, but with a fourth letter (K in the 48 contiguous states, C in Canada) in the initial spot. For example, the surface station at Will Rogers Airport in Oklahoma City is listed in various places as OKC (aviation) or KOKC (ICAO) or 72353 (WMO). The corresponding upper-air station at Westheimer Airport in Norman, Oklahoma is listed as OUN or KOUN or 72357. Meteorological Station Location Information * from the National Weather Service Office of Systems Operations explains all of this in detail and provides a text listing of worldwide weather station identifiers; they also have information on individual stations searchable by code here (NWS). * Unidata provides a code search engine here. *

Lists of surface stations alphabetized by state or province then station name are available here (Storm Chaser Homepage/Northern Illinois University) and here (Texas A&M). Upper air stations are listed here (Florida State Universty) and here (Storm Chaser Homepage/Northern Illinois University). * The Forecast Systems Laboratory has published lists of surface and upper air stations sorted by identifier. Weather stations sorted by identifier are available here (surface) * and here (upper air) * from the University of California at San Diego.

A map of major airport identifiers is available in Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) format here.* A map of upper air station identifiers is available here (University of Oklahma). * You can also print a plot of surface * station identifiers from the NIU Storm Machine, though it is a bit hard to read.

This page explains the codes at the beginning of the various NWS products. In most cases, you will know what you're looking at without understanding the code (if you pull up a tornado warning issued by the Houston/Galveston NWS Forecast Office, you do not need to decipher WFUS1 KHOU and TORHOU in the heading--you already know what it is). But the information is here for the curious. The Universal Geographic Code header is explained here; the FIPS (Federal Information Processing Codes) for various counties, listed state-by-state, can be found here (NWS) * and here (NWSFO Madison, WI). *

EMWIN is one system by which the National Weather Service disseminates data to local emergency managers. It is slow, but it is widely available via satellite, commercial carriers, and the Internet. EMWIN text files are posted on the WWW here. (CIRA/Colorado State University) * Each file has a letter product identifiers is found here. * See CIRA's EMWIN Graphics * page for a discussion of downloading graphic images from the WWW.

Air Masses and Fronts (University of Illinois)
Clouds and Precipitation (University of Illinois)
Forces and Winds (University of Illinois
Hydrologic Cycle (University of Illinios) *
Midlatitude Cyclones (University of Illinois)
or
The Seasons (Oklahoma Climatological Survey) *
Common Meteorological Variables (Oklahoma Climatological Survey) *
Vertical Structure of the Atmosphere, Part I (Oklahoma Climatological Survey) *
Vertical Structure of the Atmosphere Part 2 (Oklahoma Climatological Survey) *
Heat Tansfer (Oklahoma Climatological Survey) *
Overview of Radiation (Oklahoma Climatological Survey) *
Earth's Energy Budget, Part I (Oklahoma Climatological Survey) *
Earth's Energy Budget, Part 2 (Oklahoma Climatological Survey) *
Cloud Development (Oklahoma Climatological Survey) *
Precipitation (Oklahoma Climatological Survey) *
Air Masses (Oklahoma Climatological Survey) *
Weather Fronts (Oklahoma Climatological Survey) *
Atmospheric Forces (Oklahoma Climatological Survey) *
High and Low Pressure Systems (Oklahoma Climatological Survey) *

Well crafted basic introductions to meteorology.

Forces in the Atmosphere (John Nielsen-Gammon, Texas A&M University)
Air Pressure, Height and Temperature (John Nielsen-Gammon, Texas A&M University)
Winds and Pressure (John Nielsen-Gammon, Texas A&M University)
Radiation and the Diurnal Cycle (John Nielsen-Gammon, Texas A&M University)
Clouds and Moisture (John Nielsen-Gammon, Texas A&M University)
Wind and Mixing (John Nielsen-Gammon, Texas A&M University)
Sea Breezes, Land Brezes, and Coastal Fronts (John Nielsen-Gammon, Texas A&M University)

Excellent materials from an introductory college course in meteorology. There is some light math, but you can pick up the concepts without worrying about the equations if necessary.

See whether you really understand the thermodynamics of severe storms by working through these notes and the laboratory exercise by Paul Sirvatka at College of duPage. The lab answers are here. * Then play with your own Java applet cloud * and thunderstorm * (University of Wisconsin).

A basic introduction to forecasting.

Coordinated Universal Time (University of Illinois)

Meteorological observations are usually given in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), which is also known as Zulu Time (Z) and is almost the same as Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). Sometimes they are given in local (also known as Lima) time. These pages demonstrate the conversion between UTC and local time. Or you can click here for the current UTC time and figure it out yourself.

Sometimes a dewpoint of 23° isn't bad.

Converts among units of pressure, temperature, and humidity.

Surface observations are collected both by observers (usually at airports) and automated weather stations (ASOS).

Reading WX Maps: Surface Observations (University of Illinois)

A nice overview.

Decipher all those funny symbols on weather charts. A more detailed chart of weather symbols--but not weather station reports--is available here (IGES); a really detailed chart is found here. * You can also walk through it step by step here (College of duPage).

How to read current observations from weather stations in METAR code (METAR is a French acronym for something like aviation meteorology). Since computers will decode and plot this information for you, you may not want to bother learning the code, but it is here if you want it. Several aids are available from the NWS here.

Upper Air Sounding Details (Unisys Weather)

How to read a Skew T/Log p diagram.

How to read upper air charts.

The use of upper air data in forecasting.

How forecasters view rotation in the atmosphere.

Contouring (NASA/University of Wisconsin)

Learn to analyze weather maps with this interactive module.

Principles of Numerical Weather Prediction (John Nielsen-Gammon, Texas A&M University)
Sources of Model Error (John Nielsen-Gammon, Texas A&M University)
NWS Forecast Models (John Nielsen-Gammon, Texas A&M University)

How numerical models are prepared and what they can--and cannot--tell you.

How to read numerical model charts.

Just a list of model tendencies without sources, so buyer beware.

FOUS Help: Model Output Statistics (Paul Sirvatka/College of duPage)
or
Handy Dandy MOUS Decoder (John Nielsen-Gammon, Texas A&M University)
or
Interpretation of the NGM Based MOS Forecast Message (SUNY Albany) *
or
NGM MOS Help Page (Ohio State University) *

How to read raw output from numerical models.

Satellite Meteorology (University of Illinois)
Satellite Tutorial (College of duPage) *

Excellent basic explanations.

Courses introducing the use of satellite images.  It requires a bit of navigation with your browser's back button.  You might want to start with the Fall 1997 course and work forward.

Weather satellite basics.

How to use satellite images in forecasting.

Interactive Java tutorial.

Progressively more detailed tutorials on the use of satellite images in weather forecasting.  The old GOES Imager Tutorial is here.

Radar Meteorology (University of Illinois)
WeatherTAP Radar Tutorial *

Simple presentation of the basics.

Answers from the Weather Radar Lab.

Primer on weather radar.

Explains the use of radar in forecasting.

Includes a good description of many radar products, with examples.

A framed version with (slightly) fewer entries can be found here (Northern Illinois University). Originally from Ronald E. Rinehart of the University of North Dakota.

Very well done laboratory modules from a radar meteorology class. They provide more information than you'll need as a storm chaser (and, unfortunately, only some of the modules have been completed), but it is a good place to go for more details if you are interested.

Sources of Weather Data

Weather Servers

• Unisys Weather *
• The Ohio State University
• The Storm Machine (Gilbert Sebneste, Dawn Gonzowski/Northern Illinois University)
• Real Time Weather Data (Greg Thompson/National Center for Atmospheric Research)
• University Of Michigan Weather Net
• Weather Visualizer (University of Illinois)
• College of Du Page NEXLAB Graphics Page
• University of Wisconsin
• Texas A&M University
• Institute for Global Environment and Society
• University of Wyoming
• SUNY Albany
• West Texas Quick Weather Home Page (National Weather Service, Lubbock TX)
  • Wonderful selection of weather data for anyone chasing in the southern plains, well presented for quick access.
• NWS Fax Charts (National Weather Service) *
  • (indexed here*, with information on TIFF readers here *)
  • a selection of these charts is available on the NWS WWW Server here
• North Carolina State University *

Weather Data Hot Lists

• Weather Data (Al Pietrycha/NSSL and, soon, Texas Tech)
  • Excellent collection of weather links for chasing, organized by state and regularly updated.  I go to this page first when I am chasing.
• The Forecast Room! (Eric Nguyen) *
  • A great set of links to weather data, very well organized--don't let the exclamation point in the title fool you.
• Current Weather and Forecasts (Storm Chaser Homepage/Northern Illinois University)
• Kevin's Numerical Model Page (Kevin Carroll/University of Maryland)
  • If a numerical model is available on the Internet, it's almost certainly cited here.  A truly magnificent collection.
• Robert Prentice's Bookmarks
  • Another great collection of links, organized by product type; a bit out of date.
• Rob's Live Weather Radar Page
  • I'm not a big fan of TV station radars, but they can be useful on occasion. Robert Delp has collected links to nearly all of them here. Slow-loading page due to excessive graphics, but a unique resource.

• Weather Information on a Budget (Gilbert Sebenste/Northern Illinois University)
• NOAA Weather Radar (SAME)
• Weather Spotting Frequency List (Keith Brewster)
• Chase Television Guide (Keith Brewster)
• Good Radio Stations to Get Weather Information From (TESSA Weather Bulletin/Storm Chaser Home Page)

• Aviation Surface Weather Reports and Hourly Surface Weather Reports (NWS; in METAR Code) *
• Rawinsonde Observations (raw data plus plots, including isohypsic and isentropic charts; Florida State University) *
  • Unless you are using an analysis program [such as the excellent Digital Atmosphere (Weathergraphics) *] you probably do not need to look at coded reports.  But they are here if you want them.

• Lightning Explorer (Global Atmospherics, Inc.) *

• RAMSDIS Online (CIRA/Colorado State University) *
  • Excellent satellite images, including 1 km resolution animations.
  • CIRA also has satellite images (including GOES split-window and polar orbiting satellite images) here *
• GOES Derived Product Images (CIMSS/SSEC/University of Wisconsin) *
• GOES Quantitative Satellite Products (NESDIS) *
  • Derived products and single-band images from geostationary satellites
• Interactive Global Geostationary Weather Satellite Imagery (NASA)
  • The coolest satellite image server anywhere.  Really.  *

• Accuweather *
  • The best selection of weather radar products I've seen available on the WWW, plus other information. Subscription service, $3.95/month, 1 month free trial.

• WeatherTAP *
  • Another excellent choice for weather radar products; very fast updates.  Subscription service, $5.95 per month.

• I highly recommend using either Accuweather or WeatherTAP when you chase.  WSI/Intellicast, Weather Channel etc. radar images on the Web may be free, but they are updated too infrequently.

• Storm Prediction Center RUC2 Composite Map Page *
  • a wonderful Javascript map that lets you display weather observations and short-term model forecat data.

• Short Fuse Composite Images (NWS Dodge City) * and Composite Charts (Dave Keller) *
  • Current status of several variables correlating with severe weather.  The Dodge City NWS image covers the central plains; an explanation of how to use the Short Fuse Composite is available here *.  Dave Keller's page covers the entire continental US and explains the use of the various variables in predicting severe storms.

When to Chase (Robert Prentice/StormTrack Online!)

When we can expect to find the most tornadoes in the Southern and Central Great Plains.

Understand how to use one of the most important tools for predicting severe weather.

Short article suggesting a simple technique for assessing the potential for supercell development.

Short article applying factors relevant in forecasting storm type.

Short article discussing the importance of the thermal inversion in thunderstorm development.

Tim Marshall's classic article analyzing "dryline magic."

Guides prepared for meteorology students.

Explanations of parameters used in forecasting severe weather.

Use of various parameters in predicting convection described. Keyed to the Convective Analyses and Forecast page at Texas A&M. Prepared by John Nielsen-Gammon.

Guidelines by John McGinley.

This lab exercise from a radar and mesoscale meteorology class discusses how to prepare your own convective outlook.

Nice discussions of many phenomena of importance to storm chasers.  Do not be put off by the word "winter" in the title.  You may, however, find some of the material a bit advanced.

The Central Illinois Severe Weather Outbreak of April 19, 1996 (University of Illinois)

Various perspectives (chaser, forecaster, radar, eyewitness, etc.) on a single outbreak of devastating weather are presented. VERY well done. See also the chase reports filed by Gilbert Sebenste (with pictures) and Roger Edwards.

An excellent case study. Spotter Bernie Kopp and chasers Don Lloyd and Gary Hahn reported their observations of the same supercell. Don Lloyd's great photos (with thumbnails) and Ken Kemper's pictures showing the devastation of the town (from an aerial damage survey) are available online courtesy of the Tornado Project.

I will be listin several other case studies on this page. It might not be up yet by the time you read this, but keep trying.

Basic introduction.

Excellent FAQ by Chris Landsea of the Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory.

Explanation of Tropical Cyclones from the Naval Research Laboratory. Its a bit hard to navigate, but gives a lot of useful detail.

More detailed descriptions of forecasting techniques.

Description of numerical models used in tropical cyclone forecasting by NHC's Mark DeMaria.  See also An Overview of NHC Prediction Models * by Bernard Meisner of the NWS.

Fly into the eye with the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, USAF Reserve. You can learn to decode the recon reports here * (FSU), here * (53rd WX Recon Sqdn.), here * (Chris Sells) or here * (Univ. of Wisconsin).

William Gray et. al at Colorado State University use statistical model to predict hurricane activity. You can read about it, and see their 1999 forecast (good news--they're predicting above average activity!), here.

Atlantic Basin Hurricane Season (Florida State University) *
National Hurricane Center Tropical Atlantic Forecasts (NOAA Air Resources Laboratory)*
NRL Monterey Tropical Cyclone Page *
Tropical Cyclones (University of Wisconsin) *
Tropical Oceans - Tropical Cyclones (University of Hawaii)
Tropical Cyclone Graphics (National Hurricane Center)
Tropical Cyclone Products (National Hurricane Center)
Hurricane/Tropical Data (Unisys Weather) *
CSU's Tropical Products (Colorado State University) *
Tropical Weather Page (University of Michigan)

Sources of tropical weather data. ARL and FSU are good sources of data that is hard to locate through other sources. NRL Monterey and Wisconsin present some unique satellite products.  Many tropical forecasting products are described in The FSU Guide to Tropical Weather Data Products * by Paul Ruscher of FSU.

These are excellent hotlists of tropical forecasting data links.

Interesting content and links.

A well-prepared case study. When you're done, read the preliminary report, Hurricane Andrew 16 - 28 August, 1992 * by Ed Rappaport of the National Hurricane Center. More reports and other data are available at NHC's Past Hurricane Data * page.

If it's on the Internet and it relates to storm chasing, you can find it on or through the SCH.

Online site with archived material from the STORMTRACK Magazine. Lots of interesting articles. I also love David Hoadley's chase cartoons. If you have a serious interest in storms or chasing, I highly recommend a subscription.

E-mail group discussing all things relating to the chase, maintained by Chris Novy. Chase reports, discussion of techniques and technology, bad humor, occasional flames, etc. The quality has declined over the years, but there is some content hidden in the noise.  You might want to read Roger Edward's essay The Good, The Bad and The Ugly on WX-CHASE before you join or start posting.  Ralph Forsyth is building a nice FAQ for the various WX e-mail discussion groups.

First rate sources of tornado documentary videos, posters and books. You can learn more about The Tornado Project from Robert Henson's article in Weatherwise, A Twist of Fate. *

CASI is a fine organization founded by meteorologist Jesse Farrell; it's also got a great homepage with many useful links. And, as this member can attest, you'll never want for reading material when you're on the CASI e-mail list.

Storm chasing is a hobby for most of us, one aspect of professional life for some, and a career for very few. You do not need a degree to chase storms. If you are interested in a professional career in weather, this is a good place to start gathering information.