New to Chasing

[Allison Zarate]

Hi all,

My name is Ally and I am new to the chasing scene. I have been a weather enthusiast all of my life, but I am searching for opportunity to get out in the field. Ultimately, I want to do political and sociological research on natural disasters like tornadoes. For now, I want to be able to get up close and personal with chasing and getting used to being around severe weather. I am in the North Texas region. I am also working on getting my HAM radio license and I have taken both introductory and advanced SKYWARN classes. Does anyone have any advice about linking up with chasers and getting into the field? Thanks so much!


Ally

 

[Jeff House]

Welcome to the Storm Track scene. Couple good resources on here add to the Skywarn class. Both are in this main Weather forum.

Section Storm Spotters Skip Talbot posts a video Anticipating Tornado Development from Visual Cues. It is very informative. Of course real-life is not quite like in the text book or spotter guide. Note it is not in the Spotternetwork forum, but Storm Spotters section within the Weather forum.

Section Intro Weather and Chasing Dick McGowan offers a DVD called Storm Structure. I believe it is different video but the subject matter is similar.

Definitely recommend chasing partners. Even if you can't find another serious storm chaser, an interested driver helps a lot with safety. Then you can concentrate on the forecast, nowcast, and sky.

 

[Quincy Vagell]

You should find the Intro Weather and Chasing sub-section fairly helpful, especially the sticky threads near the top. As other questions come up that haven't been recently discussed, feel free to start a new thread.

If you haven't already, check out the Meet & Greet thread and that's a great way to connect with the community for someone new to the scene.

I agree with Jeff that trying to find a partner would be beneficial, even if it's just a friend to drive while you focus more on tracking storms. Some chasers have groups or tours that could be another opportunity, depending on your interest level and cost considerations.

Even though I had a meteorology degree, my first year of solo chasing was very challenging, especially the first few chases, although it ended up being a great learning experience in the end. However, even with a degree, I had a few close calls that could have been avoided if I wasn't in the field alone.

This is a great time to start getting involved, before we move into peak chasing season. (For North Texas and vicinity, that's typically late April through the 2nd/3rd week of May, but the next week looks fairly quiet, so use the time to get as involved as possible!)