Oklahoma Weather Tracking Licensure Legislation

[Randy Zipser]

Hi Randy, thanks for this. I agree completely. I have always believed ST ought to be the one stop shop for all things related to storm chasing. I am definitely aligned that it should also be an advocacy focal point as you propose.

Unfortunately, (and at the risk of going OT), and as you’ll see in some older threads on here, that is simply not the current state of affairs. Social media seems to be the preferred medium for chasers, so everyone is scattered across those platforms, and of course there is no cohesion, collaboration or curation.

None of the “veterans” are even on ST anymore, except for Warren, the occasional post by Matt Crowther, and now, fortunately, you. By “veterans” I guess I am using outdated terminology, because I probably qualify as a “veteran” myself now (this will be by 29th year of chasing) and there are many others here of a similar tenure, so this term is not meant to offend or exclude. I guess I really should say “pioneers” - I’m talking about the David Hoadleys, Tim Marshalls, Gene Rhodens and Bobby Prentices of the world, and others that used to participate on the old WX-CHASE listserv but eventually went off to their own world of CFDG and never returned to the broader community. I would venture to guess I’m not the only one that sees many in that group as dismissive of the ST community, whether because of elitism and/or a desire for the bigger audience and potential vitality of social media.

Point being, we have a long way to go to make this the number one platform for chaser convergence, let alone leverage it as a united advocacy group. Anything you can do to draw the “veterans” or “pioneers” back in would be awesome and appreciated!

Thanks, James, for your thoughtful insights. When I wrote this message yesterday, I was expecting to hear that the entire current world of social-media (none of which I'm on nor follow for personal privacy purposes) is where chasers go today to stay in touch. Hey, ST cannot compete with the likes of Facebook, X, Instagram, TikTok, SnapChat, etc. The whole world, it seems, "lives" on these websites and probably could not live without them nowadays!

With regard to "elitism," I had found out years ago that WX-CHASE and CFDG were not only very cliquish but also very difficult to maintain acceptance in once a member. One had to be so careful about everything one said (and keep up a minimum quota of posts!) so as not to be blacklisted. The snobbery was such a "turn off" to me that I stayed away from all such online websites for many years. Despite evolving social media, ST somehow managed to survive as the storm-chaser "pure play." Although today's social-media world may have bypassed it (as you've indicated), I don't believe that its survival was by accident!

ST was born during those "pioneer" days of us "old-fogey" chasers (of which, admittedly, I am one). The storm-chase culture back then was very different, and in some ways, better. Chasers were more respectful and courteous to one another than is the case with the harsh, scathing glare of today's social media. Even though I have not been "close" to ST over the years, I have never thought of it's membership as being snobbish, which I think is one of its greatest strengths, even after 47 years of existence. I am delighted that ST is in such "good hands" today and still expects (and respects) decorum from its members. But I digress.

Perhaps ST can someday leverage itself as a "united advocacy group" for precisely that difference with social media discussed above: it is singularly-focused and not so dispersive. All posting members of ST--whether a veteran-, pioneer-, or novice-chasers--need to educate the "outside, non-chasing world" that many storm chasers and severe-weather enthusiststs do exist and that we do have something meaningful to say. Surely, every lawmaker in the Oklahoma legislature likely knows the name of every social-media platform out there, but how many have ever heard of StormTrack.org, a website created "right in their own backyard?" So, it's not about bringing the "old fogies" like me back into the fold; it's about the present membership of all ages re-inventing ST to uniquely distinguish itself from all other of today's stereotype social-media.

One way to do this is for the ST Administrator(s) to create a unique "Storm Track" app which links StormTrack.org to all the other social-media sites when the website is first visited via Google search on a device. That will rapidly increase ST's recognition, and I'm betting that more people will eventually notice it and like what they see than delete it!

I hope that readers of this post will not misunderstand my intent with this message: it is not intended to be overly-critical or to "nit-pick" anyone or anything in any way! It's purpose is to make ST more relevant and a become a standout for the storm-chasing online community once again...

 

[Mike Dorame]

I agree, Storm Track's influence is extremely small. The new chasers are growing up on Chaser Chad & Twitch/Tiktok chasers who don't even know this web forum exists. All the expertise and experience here will be lost to future generations if u don't make it known to the next generation via it's influencers.

Don't send hate y'all, I'm just trying to help.

 

[Dan Robinson]

I agree, Storm Track's influence is extremely small. The new chasers are growing up on Chaser Chad & Twitch/Tiktok chasers who don't even know this web forum exists. All the expertise and experience here will be lost to future generations if u don't make it known to the next generation via it's influencers.

Don't send hate y'all, I'm just trying to help.

Hoping this isn't too far off topic, as it's a common subject of discussion that is quite relevant here. It's been this way since around 2008-2010, as I've said in many other threads before. Chasing has always been a realm owned and represented by the young. They are the ones that steer and shape the hobby. As one gets into their 40s and 50s in chasing, or if you just stop doing it for whatever reason, you're mostly forgotten. Few today even know the *names* of all the greats we looked up to in our era. Today chasing consists of individual social media fiefdoms mostly inspired by and under (arguably) one central figure's influence. I'm not blaming anyone for that, it's just been a natural evolution of things. ST is far outside of all of that unfortunately, despite many valiant attempts over the past decade to change that with a lot of work and money expended.

 

[Randy Zipser]

Hoping this isn't too far off topic, as it's a common subject of discussion that is quite relevant here. It's been this way since around 2008-2010, as I've said in many other threads before. Chasing has always been a realm owned and represented by the young. They are the ones that steer and shape the hobby. As one gets into their 40s and 50s in chasing, or if you just stop doing it for whatever reason, you're mostly forgotten. Few today even know the *names* of all the greats we looked up to in our era. Today chasing consists of individual social media fiefdoms mostly inspired by and under (arguably) one central figure's influence. I'm not blaming anyone for that, it's just been a natural evolution of things. ST is far outside of all of that unfortunately, despite many valiant attempts over the past decade to attempt to change that with a lot of work and money expended.

Yes, Dan, sad to say, I'm afraid you're right and you know so much more than I do about this. So as not to stray, either, too far off topic on this thread, I'll just say that we can't change things that we (as individual contributors) have no control over...but if few care or are listening (other than ST's dedicated members) to what this platform is offering, ST's days may, indeed, be numbered! Taking the liberty to speak for Dave Hoadley as well as myself, of course, we'd both be very unhappy to see ST lose in the future all of the fan base it now enjoys, but if that's how Internet communication culture is evolving, for better or worse, we all must accept that fate. In any event, I am very confident that ST will continue to exist for the foreseeable future, and if this Oklahoma bill does fail in the end, I'd like to think that somehow, someway, ST's members on this thread played a part. The other forums on ST, those threads involving exchange of chaser information, especially live in the field during severe-weather events, should remain as strong as ever...

 

[Randy Zipser]

I agree, Storm Track's influence is extremely small. The new chasers are growing up on Chaser Chad & Twitch/Tiktok chasers who don't even know this web forum exists. All the expertise and experience here will be lost to future generations if u don't make it known to the next generation via it's influencers.

Don't send hate y'all, I'm just trying to help.

No, Mike, to the contrary, your input is much appreciated.

 

[Warren Faidley]

Hi everyone. I am still waiting to hear from Jeff Piotrowski and Erik Fox who I believe meet with Rep. Scott Fetgatter last week. I believe they are currently busy with the chasing conference, so I might not hear back from them until next week.

 

[John Farley]

Hi Randy, thanks for this. I agree completely. I have always believed ST ought to be the one stop shop for all things related to storm chasing. I am definitely aligned that it should also be an advocacy focal point as you propose.

Unfortunately, (and at the risk of going OT), and as you’ll see in some older threads on here, that is simply not the current state of affairs. Social media seems to be the preferred medium for chasers, so everyone is scattered across those platforms, and of course there is no cohesion, collaboration or curation.

At risk of staying OT, I do think this may be changing, and cite this as some very encouraging evidence:

Post in thread 'The coordinated push to eliminate weather websites'

Feb 14, 2025

I am not formally planning to hard launch this til March 1, and while I have a story behind bringing mine back to life, I will save that story for the formal launch. But since there is discussion, I will tease the fact that since the summer of 2024, I have been working on bringing my old website back to life. Somewhere around 2017, I let my domain (and the nearly two-decade long website) vanish. Like many, I just got too busy with life to maintain and keep up with a site. While I cannot say that my free time has opened up significantly (hence the now 7-month long slog to get to this...

• Tony Laubach

• 
• 

To get back on track a little, I think it would be hard to get a clear sense to take any position on anything given the orientation of ST toward discussion, storm reports, etc. rather than toward being a formal organization. But I suppose we could do a poll, with a set closing date, and go from that. I have no doubt that the vast majority of us are, in fact, opposed to the proposed OK legislation.

 

[Warren Faidley]

This discussion is not too far off topic. I've discovered over the years, and now backed up by my work on the sb-158 situation, that most newer generation chasers have zero respect (or use) for "veteran" chasers. Maybe it's a generational thing, but it's true. For example, I've been black listed from a lot of chasing-related events (conferences, podcasts, etc), because I've taken a stance on bad chasing behavior. I don't really care, because I'm a professional journalist first and a chaser second.

 

[Warren Faidley]

Looking like we might have support from chase tour groups, but I'll let them chime-in on their own. I have zero doubt that if the bill passes, tour groups will be the next target.

If you want to follow the bill's progress, the site is here:

http://www.oklegislature.gov/BillInfo.aspx?Bill=sb158&Session=2500

 

[Randy Zipser]

This discussion is not too far off topic. I've discovered over the years, and now backed up by my work on the sb-158 situation, that most newer generation chasers have zero respect (or use) for "veteran" chasers. Maybe it's a generational thing, but it's true. For example, I've been black listed from a lot of chasing-related events (conferences, podcasts, etc), because I've taken a stance on bad chasing behavior. I don't really care, because I'm a professional journalist first and a chaser second.

You'll always have a welcome mat here on ST, Warren, for sure! This whole thing with the social-media "influencers" calling the shots these days about which online platforms are seen and which are ignored, is really sad, IMHO. The younger generations of chasers today are giving up so much of their own influence and identity by choosing to live their own lives through social-media platforms driven by some cryptic "cult-like" leader(s), when they could be learning so much useful experiential knowledge and chasing skills (not to mention good, courteous, lawful driving behavior) directly from those "veteran" and "pioneer" chasers like you, me, and many other members who post on this website.

Steering back more on topic, I don't know the average age of Oklahoma's lawmakers, but I would guess that those over age 45-50 might well be reachable by this platform and our now over 260 posts on this thread (the vast majority in opposition to SB-158) if an effort, preferably by a resident of Oklahoma, is mounted to reach out to that demographic in the statehouse. That kind of information should be available online publicly due to the Freedom of Information Act, so it would be possible to compile such a list. So, even if those in their 30s or younger ignore us, at least not all hope is lost to get our intelligent feedback across to some lawmakers before a vote takes place.

 

[Warren Faidley]

You'll always have a welcome mat here on ST, Warren, for sure! This whole thing with the social-media "influencers" calling the shots these days about which online platforms are seen and which are ignored, is really sad, IMHO. The younger generations of chasers today are giving up so much of their own influence and identity by choosing to live their own lives through social-media platforms driven by some cryptic "cult-like" leader(s), when they could be learning so much useful experiential knowledge and chasing skills (not to mention good, courteous, lawful driving behavior) directly from those "veteran" and "pioneer" chasers like you, me, and many other members who post on this website.

I think you nailed it with this statement. I also believe they feel somewhat invincible from outside influences like SB158. Some lack life experiences and vision to understand what a bill like this could do. There is a side of me that would enjoy watching them go ballistic when highways in OK are closed, or they get the $1,000 ticket and points for interfering with an "emergency news crew vehicle." (Title-47).

 

[Warren Faidley]

From a recent post on X by Erik Fox, I guess the sponsors of the bill are becoming increasingly pissed off at chasers from outside OK getting involved in the efforts to defeat sb158. I'm sure if they knew that 50+ inexperienced, hyped-up news crews could be driving like crazy during severe weather with flashing red lights, they might think twice. Also sounds like the OHP is turning the screws even more. Good.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1891630707199574525

 

[gdlewen]

The OK Senate Retirement and Government Services Committee will be hearing SB158 on this Wednesday, February 19:

Retirement and Government Resources 3RD REVISED | Oklahoma Senate

oksenate.gov

The bill has been amended (called a Committee Substitute):

http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/cf_pdf/2025-26%20COMMITTEE%20AMENDMENTS/Senate/SB158%20PCS.PDF

Not sure what's been changed as I just got back from a short trip and this is the first chance I've had to see the new language.

This new section should be interesting:

"Nothing in this act shall be construed to prohibit or limit the rights of any individual to engage in recreational or commercial storm tracking or chasing."

On its face, it seems to defuse the situation but nothing has been done to eliminate the issues I had with the first version: it defines a convective outlook as a "significant weather event", permits media outlets to issue severe weather warnings, and permits law enforcement to respond to these situations by closing roads (SECTION 4B.3). I would prefer language not be in statute that permits law enforcement to close roads in response to an SPC Convective Outlook.

I understand that most reasonable individuals would not respond to a Convective Outlook by closing roads. That just makes no sense...until you consider how many nonsensical things government officials do just because no laws expressly forbid it.

 

[Warren Faidley]

The problem is that they are still 'emergency vehicles" under Oklahoma law, which means no passing them, no coming close to them, they can drive above the speed limits, or under. Someone could still declare a state of emergency and only emergency vehicles would be allowed on the road. The fact that the law says it does not impede upon other chasers is moot. There is still a system of classification where only two types of chasers will exist, professional and amateur. Good luck explaining your position to law enforcement. As noted before, this will be direct violation of the First Amendment by not affording the equal access rights to all media and creating a "pay to play" system. There will be a lawsuit filed on day one, guaranteed.

 

[Mike Smith]

permits media outlets to issue severe weather warning

Anyone can issue storm warnings. The First Amendment guarantees that.

The first-ever tornado watch was U.S. Air Force (Tinker AFB) and the first-ever tornado warning was WKY TV (now KFOR) in OKC. The NWS didn't have anything to do with either.