Most Influential & Distinguished Storm Chasers

[Robert Dewey]

Oh yeah, how could I forget Blake? I bugged him everyday on AIM like 8-10 years ago and bought my first chase video from him (what'd you expect? I was around 12 at the time). Sorry about that, LOL

Anyway, there really are way too many to list. There are several people on this forum that I would consider to have an influence on me since signing up...

Mike Hollingshead's awesome photos and bi-monthly photo theft debacle, and his interest in most types of extreme weather (i.e. not limited to just tornadoes)

Shane Adams' blunt attitude and willingness to throw an opinion out there even when other's might strongly disagree. Also his ability to keep chasing as an "isolated" hobby, while not abandoning everything else - When it's chase time, it's chase time; when it's not, everything else matters.

Nick Grillo hasn't had an influence on me per se, but his age and motivation are beyond exceptional and I could see this having a big effect on younger chasers.

 

[Doug_Kiesling]

Doug Kiesling. He is certainly not one of the most well liked chasers,

Yeah well, it's a business, not a popularity contest. I could be well liked and let people walk all over me or I could be perceived as a jerk and focus on making a living as a freelance videographer with people thinking I'm a prick but still jealous of that fact that I succeeded.

Yes it is a fact that I don't focus just on shooting weather video anymore and anyone who does is a fool but the cold reality is that a lot of the people on this forum are chasers, spotters and simply just business competition.

Besides, if people knew half the stuff I have to deal with when it comes to the business of chasing with all the double crossing and back stabbing... Lets just say you would be shocked if not applaud. When I retire I should right a book about it.


But for now I'll just stick with the day job... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0rKBVDb7f8

 

[Mike Hollingshead]

Thanks for the kind words from those mentioning my name. It's cool to know you can largely suck at targetting and still get mentioned lol. I think I've had 35 chases or so since getting a tube. 1/35 should not get anyone mentioned and should probably prevent it.

While thinking of this thread one person came to mind as far as a present distinguished kind of thing. Anyone notice how many tornado days Simon Brewer had last year in the "crappy" year? http://www.stormgasm.com/ Look at the right hand side and add two from March and one from April not listed over there. NINE tornado days last year(at least, could be more for all I know). LOL I thought it was six before looking further into this. That is simply crazy. I'm not sure I can think of anyone chasing better than Simon is right now.

As far as influences, hmmm. Anyone that was putting images online before 99 would be mine, as that is what got me chasing. I loved storms, but seeing what they could look like online got me to chasing them(tornado videos rarely showed all the structures). It's sad I don't remember that well just whose sites they all were. I really never used the internet much till about that time, and the whole thing was rather new. Seems like it was Doswell, Prentice, Barricklow, and Moore as the main ones. I'm thankful they, along with others, took the time to do so.

I was always a fan of Jeff Piotrowski as well, since he seemed to be able to always get the craziest footage. The more footage I watched, the more a fan of Stertz I became lol. When they are together you can tell who is holding the camera(sorry Jeff). The April 8, 1999 sequence is classic, even if it is sooo painful to watch.

Bill Reid for his chasing and chase videos. It should be nice now that Bill has a site out/coming out, so others that aren't familar with his productions can become so.

 

[Mike Hollingshead]

Lets just say you would be shocked if not applaud.

I'm dying to know if that was a typo or if it was meant to be typed that way. lol That is potentially pretty damn funny, even if it is not.

 

[Doug_Kiesling]

I'm dying to know if that was a typo or if it was meant to be typed that way. lol That is potentially pretty damn funny, even if it is not.

At least you still get the joke It ties in with the you tube video I posted.

Running BNVN, I can't post all the old jokes I used to post.
http://www.funnelfiasco.com/weather/humor.html#hailterms

 

[MatthewCarman]

Did Dr. Fujita chase? He made the tornado scale and probibly influenced alot of people to start chasing.

 

[Gerrit Gulden]

Im a big fan of Eric Nguyen (mesoscale.ws) and The whole Breaking News Video Network crew. The storm structure and tornado footage is extroadinary.

Im a fan of every stormchaser/photographer, but for me, these stood out the most.

-gerrit

 

[Amos Magliocco]

Thanks to those who've mentioned me. It's very humbling. I'm a weekend warrior compared to most names in this thread.

I can't answer this post without first mentioning Steve Miller (TX), who mentored more than a few of us with his knowledge and enthusiasm. Sam Barricklow made a deep impression on me for his committment to reporting and public safety. David Hoadley elaborated a poet-chaser's vision and sense of awe, and has never stopped embracing the experience with words. Chuck Doswell and Al Moller modeled the value of fidelity to scientific standards with a zeal for precise language and a humble spirit of inquiry. Tim Marshall told us how important it was to do the morning's work right and then show up ("when it's May you chase!"). My friends Eric and Mike explained which way to point my camera, and Shane's passion proved that chasing could keep us young forever.

 

[Kathryn Piotrowski]

David Hoadley - To me the quintessential storm chaser is David Hoadley. Brian Stertz and Jeff Piotrowski allowed me to chase with them in the very late 90's and I heard them speak of David Hoadley with so much admiration and respect ... I just couldn't wait to meet this man. And when I did meet David Hoadley it was a wonderful experience that I will never forget. He holds so much excitement and passion for weather, great wit, incredible talent as an artist and a poet.

Brian Stertz - Brian's enthusiasm and comprehension of weather is inimitable. I couldn't even begin to count the times that Brian has helped me, taken the time to explain to me applications of weather that I am sure were very elementary to him but he never made me feel like I was asking a "less than" question. I have a deep admiration and respect for this man, Great Guy. One heck of a storm chaser!

 

[Mikey Gribble]

I have learned a lot from Jon Davies, Jim Reed (on hurricanes), and Tim Vasquez has some pretty damn good books for intro. level chasers, so I think those guys are at the top of my list as far as obtaining knowledge from other chasers goes.
When it comes down to who I think the best chaser out there is (besides myself of course lol) when it comes to bagging tornadoes, I would have to call it a toss up between Wurman and his crew (I know he has other guys help forecasting for the DOW group) and the stormgasm guys. I think Simon Brewer and Jim Bishop never got the kind of respect or attention among other chasers that they deserve simply because they were young and they didn't used to post a whole lot on here, but IMO they can out forecast and out chase anybody out there. They always had that extra bit of enthusiasm that it takes to be a great chaser. It's not always easy to pick yourself back up after a bust and drive another 1,000 miles the following day, but those guys did it and they were sucessful because of it.

 

[Ray Walker]

Well honestly I have many names that stand out in my head. This spring will be my 5th chase season across the plains and I'm only 20yrs old. The chasers I can really remember most that first inspired me were legends Howerd bluestein, Gene Rhoden, and Jim leonard lol and last but not least Val-Caster from KWTV in OKC. These legends are the ones who really inspired me with there breathtaking videos and cool tempers when they are in the hotzone as I like to call it.
But when the movie Twister came out I thought that is exactly how chasing was and would be, but when my 16th B-day came around and I started chasing for the first time LOL BOY WAS I WRONG!!!!! I would skip school to chase in Kansas, once in Nebraska, and all over texas. I almost failed High School for it. Was I foolish in doing this? Well I dunno. Maybe, but My pasion for understanding severe storms and seeing them in person instead of on video just kept growing and growing and growing, and still to this day it has never been greater. But I felt like an outcast because I never saw anyone else out there my age chasing lol.
But when I met Reed timer on 5/12/04 in southern kansas and then Shane adams the following year, I was thinking wow these guys are awsome and they were actually talking to ME!! I was so nervous both times that I couldnt talk much at all, I didnt know what to say. But then 10/19/05 roled around and I ran into Reed again along with his budy Joel at a library somwere in far NW oklahoma ( srry I dont remember the town) and they let me follow them throughout the chase until I lost them durring the insane core punch lol.
Then a couple months later i Ran across Reeds website and was like wow I've actually met him, and Shane well he is one of the coolest chasers you will ever meet he is real down to earth and funny.
These guys are the ones who have inspired me to chase and to Continue chasing.

 

[Doug_Kiesling]

If you really want to talk about "Most Influential" for me, it is not who everyone says is the big names in chasing which kind of look more like a brown nose contest.

I see a lot of people come and go in chasing with one hit wonders just like the music business but there is one old school chaser that puts almost all of us to shame when it comes to photography and laying the ground work to what a lot of us do now.

It is not even anyone on Stormtrack or Wx Chase or any of the billion other blogs, lists, chats and crap out there.

My vote goes to the only chaser whose photographic work hangs in my office and did stuff with a camera that some can barely recreate using CS2 for several hours now days.

David O Stillings. The Lightning Stalker.

He was chasing storms long before some on this forum were even alive.

http://www.gographics.com/lightning/stil36.htm Photographed in 1978.

Although is website is down, you can see a lot of his work here.
http://www.gographics.com/lightning/

Granted some of the scans are kind of sub par by todays standards, they were done 10 years ago.

 

[Stan Rose]

The two 'legends' who have most influenced me are Chuck Doswell for forecasting knowlege, and Roger Hill for chasing in general. Dr. D probably has taught me more about the wx than anyone else, i practically memorized all his papers when i was going to school. Roger's enthusiasm for chasing is second to none! Every year, my chase partners and i joke about secreting a tracking device on Roger's van, so we dont miss out on any of the action

But, since this is about recognizing people who have made a difference, I want to single out a couple names that probably less than 1% of this board has ever heard of, and yet these two could easily be 'legendary' chasers if they wanted the status. Eyad Atallah and Anantha Aiyyer
were two grad students when i went back to school to get my undergrad degree in 1997. We all studied under synoptic legend Lance Bosart at SUNY ALbany, NY. I don't know how much chasing these two have done since then, but back then they spearheaded the U Albany chases that got me started in this crazy hobby. This was before we had real-time data, and had to rely on pure chasing skills. While we were off driving aimlessly around, they had an uncanny ability to get the goods, and they have the video to show for it (just one example, driving 1000+ miles from Albany to be the first on the scene to video the Spencer F4). You wont find these guys trumpeting their accomplishments on the internet, but they're great chasers, and certainly gave me inspiration.

 

[Andrew Revering]

This is an OLD thread I stumbled upon but I can't read it without putting in my 2 bits for Roger Hill and Jon Davies.

Roger is one class act. He's the nicest guy you could ever imagine, is freakishly good at what he does, and is humble despite people like me who slobber over him like he's Oprah Winfrey. In my book he's the world's best... and even after chasing for 15 years myself am blown away by how much more there is to learn once you ride along with Roger Hill. If anyone else thinks they are good -- they are wrong!

I also have to vote for Jon Davies. Another all around great guy who has helped chasers and meteorology in general jump forward by leaps and bounds with his work with low level stretching (was ESP), low topped supercells, cold core tornadoes, his 700mb rule for capping which is one of those magic numbers I use religiously... and more. I cannot give Jon more credit for all his hard work and ability and eagerness to share freely his endless knowledge.

 

[Jason Boggs]

Actually back in 1999 or 2000, Warren Faidley laid the foundation for me. I was in an airport, and picked up a volume of Popular Photography (I believe this was the one) and saw and article about Warren Faidley and storm chasing. I was in awe of his photos and I wanted to be just like him.

When I met him back in 02, I knew then that I was destined to become a storm chaser. Even today, we stop and chat with each other when we have time. Other chasers helped me, but Warren laid the foundation for my interest and excitement for storm chasing.