I've been a forecaster/driver for Storm Chasing Adventure Tours now for the past 5 years. I must say that its always been fun and I always enjoy talking to people that share an interest in severe weather or meteorology in general. I've had several conversations with people interested on going on a chase tour and them trying to figure out which tour you want to go on. In 2001, I was also interested in chasing with a tour and I personally researched every known tour company at that time and based my decision on email conversations with either tour owners or guides. Todd Thorn, the owner of Storm Chasing Adventure Tours, appreciated my knowledge of meteorology and this was something he was looking for at that time and invited be back the following year to help out and he has invited me back ever since. Here are some pointers:
1. Don't base the decision solely on technology...think about experience, track record with finding the best storms, etc.
2. What do you want to gain from the experience? Majority of the tourists have very little or little background in meteorology. What background do the individuals in charge of the tours have? From this again I would contact someone within the company either by email or phone and ask them the questions you want answered that isn't posted somewhere on the website.
3. Remember this: The number of storm chase companies out there have increased a lot since I took my first tour back in 2001. I have spoken with many of the other individuals involved with Tempest Tours and Silver Lining Tours, mostly by being on the same storm or even running into them at a restaurant or hotel. They have the experience and the knowledge and I know you'll get a great education with them as well. I've seen several storm chase companies out there over the last 5 years and some I've seen one season and never seen them since. A lot of these start up and their done within a chase year or two.
This is only my opinion, the best ones out there that I know of through colleagues and friends are:
Silver Lining Tours, Tempest Tours, Storm Chasing Adventure Tours, Cloud 9 Tours, and College of DuPage (no particular order)
Finally, obviously everyone knows this has been a very slow year. From this, what do the tours do when the chances of seeing tornadoes are slim or not at all? Do they "abort" early in the day or do they make best of what mother nature gives them and go from there? I can only speak for myself, I just love to chase because I have no idea what kind of photo I may obtain or what I might actually see. 6400 miles of chasing for 2 weeks this past spring and we saw storms 9 out of 12 days including two of the best lightning producing storms I've ever seen on May 25 near Amarillo and May 28 near Murdo, SD. Successes vary from year to year, have to keep that in mind.
Susan, I would go to some of these chase company websites and look at their contact info. Don't be afraid to ask them the questions you want to know the answers too.