Welcome, Jacob!
It’s great to read your initial questions as
everyone begins somewhere.
Beyond the in-depth meteorological mechanics and formulas that can be gained later, start honing your skills with consistent atmospheric/weather pattern recognition. That will take some time, but in doing so, much like a visual puzzle, you will begin to see a repetition in how air flows and forms potential severe weather events days even weeks in advance, from the jet stream/300mb down to the ground/sea level. Read those technically worded convective outlooks by the Storm Prediction Center and in-depth local National Weather Service office forecast discussions, then compare to what you see or interpret on the charts. Eventually with practice, you can get quite good at determining where specific weather parameters may/will come together
and often prior to reading what other professional forecasters suggest.. sometimes with how in-sync an official forecast compares to your own, and occasionally you will catch a subtle hint overlooked by others. Get a feel for air flow, dewpoint, and temperature overlaps, and combine those with mid or upper levels waves [troughs and ridges] either projected by models or in real-time. Look at weather maps
daily or when time permits, even when there is not a severe weather setup inbound vs. only when there is. Historical events, published summaries and charts also are great resources to gain insight to pattern recognition from past tornado/severe events. From real-time surface map observations, satellite animations, SPC
mesoanalysis parameters [and there are many], various global, regional, convective allowing and ensemble forecast models by way of the
College of DuPage/Nexlab,
Pivitol Weather or other sources… publicly available data resources are presently rich.
Read about how
actual hodographs and upper air soundings work and factor into the mix before merely needle dropping a suggested sounding on Pivitol Weather that generates an eye-grabbing “PDS TORNADO” icon and a bunch of numbers that don’t instantly make sense - or - perhaps has been over-hyped without much if any explanation on assorted social media. Needle dropping suggested soundings
does aid in the learning process, but to formulate an effective chase day or storm observing strategy, which
entirely connects to your financial question about chasing, try forecasting a hypothetical chase day from home, see what works or fails, keep at it and then ask questions to others on this forum or from those more experienced whom you meet in person along the many routes in life. After a while, the dots start to connect.
The internet has a plethora of excellent visual and text-based resources for learning about how the convective atmosphere [severe weather] functions and relates directly to storm chasing and observing. On the other side of things, there is
a lot of needless hyped-up nonsense eye-candy and personal drama that you will learn to filter through.
Along with the good suggestions already noted on this thread, do watch and emulate from storm chasing videos that provide a good meteorological setup and chase day overview,
not just the climax of such events [a photogenic tornado or hurricane], but also the let downs [of which happens
quite frequently] and any explanations as to what flopped on those particular days should the person providing the video make that available. There are many videos with a mix of chase day scenarios out there available by
myself and others on YouTube. Another to recommend are the assorted chase vlogs by
Andrew Pritchard, a meteorologist and storm chaser from the Champaign/Urbana, Illinois region. Others have already noted some excellent visual/educational material already.
Back in the mid-1990’s, before I could legally drive anything other than a bike or golf cart, I would purchase or swap videotapes with other storm chasers/meteorologists by way of now defunct The Storm Chaser Homepage, internet weather newsgroups/listservs or Stormtrack [the paper newsletter] even when I didn’t have much of a personal weather library to share. Watching those videos/tapes repeatedly was a fantastic way as a visual learner to gain an excellent selection of on-chase scenarios that I would and did eventually encounter in time… the busts, the highs, lows, odd points, bad food, long days, funny sights, personal arguments, friendships and so on. Those types of videos still exist, you just must seek them out. They also served as a gateway to understand all the technical forecast data that was just becoming publicly available at the time on a mass scale. Flash to the present, you're in a good place to gain an excellent base of combined knowledge.
Financially speaking, long distance storm chasing as an activity is
very expensive and does add up fast. Fuel, vehicle maintenance/repairs, “high risk” auto insurance, hotel/motel lodging [unless you prefer to sleep in your vehicle or a tent which while mildly adventurous
does get old fast nor provides solid rest], fast [bad] food on-the-go, camera and computer equipment all are personal costs that factor in. One can still chase/observe storms successfully with a paper road atlas, weather radio, gained skills and a smart phone with RadarScope – but those factors alone will not detract from the overall grand cost for travel to see spectacular skyscapes.
Have a solid source or sources of income [day job/gig], savings specifically set aside for weather observing/travel, flexible schedule and a network made up of family and friends [for impromptu lodging/emergencies] across the US and Canada. All of this factors into the grand financial picture when it comes to storm chasing/observing. Utilize credit cards
wisely and
always have the funds to
pay them off on time at the end of each cycle! I highly discourage card swipes in search for supercells and then not being able cover the realities/basics back home [bills, food, rent, etc] unless you prefer to live with family… and the later scenario happens more often than most people will ever care to admit.
In rare instances, say at the 2% level, professional career interests and storm chasing/observing can align and provide a contractually benefited salary, but is often
entirely reliant on a professional umbrella organization [media/private weather companies] with other duties involved [national/local weather reporter/field meteorologist/producer] that do not always involve storm chasing. Those type of positions are
not commonplace and take a couple of decades [like anything] of real-world professional and personal experiences to achieve… nor is it a stable long-term career track unless one plays the corporate media game.
Making an income source that allows one to pay bills/support themselves from Google/YouTube, Patreon follower donations, live social media video streams, freelance storm chasing video or as a “natural disaster correspondent” [read: drone operator] is not simple and even less stable unless working with
multiple media partners with deeper pockets, combined with limited financially backed sponsorships and the ability to manage a consistent, positive professional work relationship with those organizations and individuals involved [all a fine balance]. That lifestyle, while occasionally adventurous, is
not glamorous nor financially secure in the long run [see annual increased regulations of social media content].
For the small percentage of individuals who are not working for a private weather media company and present themselves as making a living as a “storm chaser”, often always have a spouse/partner/main bread winner, family wealth or a wise personal savings plan to balance life out. Others who have been at it for years have made a niche audience and draw income in a way, but also have other spoons in the stew so to speak. Many other individuals over time have successfully combined skills and career paths to align with their joy of annual storm chasing/observing, and not all have meteorology backgrounds. Point being to all of this: It is indeed possible to combine storm chasing and draw a momentary income, but for the most part, that ship sailed long ago [prior to 2005] and often more-so detracts from what storm chasing really is all about, an appreciation for the wild sky!
A benefit of being in the Great Lakes is that local or regionalized storm observing usually is a good way to start, certainly if just beginning, and not a significant drain on finite financial resources. You can craft together a forecast, contrast it with others, browse this forum to read others’ thoughts/opinions and then, being in Michigan, venture out to see what the atmosphere actually does. Sometimes there’s a convective surprise, but more often you will need to drive to Indiana, Illinois or Northern Ohio for many of those scenarios + better visibility.
I’ll further echo what others have mentioned. Inquire and directly connect with others who have years of experience successfully and responsibly observing severe weather, not merely those with a litany of social media followers. You will find, more of than not, there are many people out there from a wide range of backgrounds who would be glad to further support your genuine interests in storm chasing/meteorology with shared knowledge or first-hand experiences. Many successful present day storm chasers also got their start by participating on a storm chase tour and eventually becoming drivers/guides -- but do
your own research and ask around regarding the many operations now in place, large or small, before going on that route.
From one Michigander to another, keep asking questions and learning. There's a lot of weather out there. Great discussion!
