Storm Chasers, Stay Home

[Dan Robinson]

Warren's right, everyone wants to see a tornado. There aren't too many people that are going to see something like the Dodge City storm and go "la dee da" on about their day as if it's nothing. In my video, you can see even the truckers stopping to look. Interestingly, they're the only ones actually parked in the road! Not that I blame them. Far be it that someone has to turn the wheel a little to go around, it wasn't a big deal to me. There's so much hypersensitivity to even slight traffic infractions.

 

[JamesCaruso]

One thing that bothers me about the article is the insinuation that we are getting in the way of first-responders. I reject that notion, most chasers would be long gone staying with or ahead of the tornado, and I'm sure that any chaser still in the path of the first responders is going to move over to let them through when they hear their sirens. Emergency vehicles seem to get through with ease here in the northeast where normal daily traffic is 100 times worse than any chaser convergence on the Plains.

I also didn't like the comments about not needing to know any meteorology in order to chase. That might be true for the local that happens to see a tornado in progress after poking his head out of his car as he shuttles around town, but not for the chaser that drove four hours to park himself at the exact latitude where the DDC storm went up and committed to it while it was still multicellular. Another example of painting all "chasers," including locals, with the same brush as others above noted.




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[Warren Faidley]

This entire issue will soon die out as the season slows to crawl / ends. I think it's a healthy discussion and those who responded should be proud they added something to the mix, no matter what their opinion. It's a credit to ST members that the discussion remained professional. There are always going to be a few people who misbehave in any endeavor and chasing is no exception. I am of the opinion that some of them are now under the microscope like never before and that's a good thing -- something has been missing in chasing for many years.

 

[Brian Barnes]

I also disagree with the article; and agree with the overall sentiment of this thread. The only problems I saw in DDC were "Local" thrill seekers, who should not be confused with storm chasers and so often are. Here is a short clip from my DDC video showing a local sitting in the window of a truck while having his thumb up and yelling "whoops" at storm chasers.

 

[Shawn Gossman]

I have to jump in here and speak my mind...

I'm heavily into emergency management and public safety aspects through a combination of education and experience within the private and public sectors. I am a storm spotter more than a chaser. I don't really care about selling footage or chasing for the rush, I am in it for helping my community based on my stance of emergency management. My developing subject matter expertise lies with 'rural' and 'remote' emergency management subjects. I feel the Whole Community approach to emergency management is the only way for success. Some people will argue that, I think they're wrong - I am dedicated to the Whole Community theory. With that being said, I feel entitled to be a part of rural emergency management discussions. In regards to this article, before you think I am one of the bad guys blaming you for being naughty on the road... I'm not, I am for you.

Think of it this way... a world without chasers, talking chasers here, not so much my spotter counterparts. Chasers are the majority of severe weather 'fans' who get the video. This video is either donated and/or sold to various media outlets. The video is then used in press and even education. In fact, law enforcement, fire department, emergency management and even military entities are showing video of tornadoes and severe weather effects in their training to better their organization for preparing for and responding to severe weather. Who took those videos though? STORM CHASERS.... *slaps self on head and sticks out tongue* Even those of you who are in it for a buck, with I respect, your footage will eventually make it to education. A world without you is an unprepared world because the intelligence to be prepared is not being created.

So what to me is more dangerous? Chasing storms or preventing storm chasing? I'd say if we had never chased storms in our lives, more people wouldn't have seen the footage of the destructive nature of severe weather and more people wouldn't have realized why we need to seek shelter from this chaotic weather. So storm chaser, whether you like it or not, you help the community especially in the eyes of a developing rural emergency management expert.

A big thank you from me! And that is emergency management thanking you... those that don't like it, can suck it...

 

[rdale]

I'd say if we had never chased storms in our lives, more people wouldn't have seen the footage of the destructive nature of severe weather and more people wouldn't have realized why we need to seek shelter from this chaotic weather.

Could you clarify? For decades people saw the destruction of tornadoes before chasing even existed. I grew up in the 70s and 80s and when the siren sounded I went to the basement. I had never seen a livestreamed tornado or a drone video in 4K yet did so. How does chasing change that?

 

[Shawn Gossman]

Could you clarify? For decades people saw the destruction of tornadoes before chasing even existed. I grew up in the 70s and 80s and when the siren sounded I went to the basement. I had never seen a livestreamed tornado or a drone video in 4K yet did so. How does chasing change that?

I just mainly mean that chasing in terms of acquiring video which eventually gets to education is another great way to warn people, let people see what actually happens during a tornado or other type of extreme weather event. I didn't mean to say that only video is doing it for people. But imagine if there wasn't that much video made, a lot of people wouldn't ever know what something is like until they experienced it first hand at that point. Video is a great innovation for practically everything.

 

[Jeff Hawkins]

I have to jump in here and speak my mind...

I'm heavily into emergency management and public safety aspects through a combination of education and experience within the private and public sectors..[SNIP]..
So what to me is more dangerous? Chasing storms or preventing storm chasing? I'd say if we had never chased storms in our lives, more people wouldn't have seen the footage of the destructive nature of severe weather and more people wouldn't have realized why we need to seek shelter from this chaotic weather. So storm chaser, whether you like it or not, you help the community especially in the eyes of a developing rural emergency management expert.

A big thank you from me! And that is emergency management thanking you... those that don't like it, can suck it...

Thanks for that positive feedback Shawn. You make a good point in that it's chasers (and anyone with a camera nowadays) who get the video shots. Spotters might, but that's not why they're out there.
Chasers hear the negative stuff plenty and don't get a balanced view of how that's not ALL EMS and spotters and NWS people. There are others who might see chasers as a POSITIVE element in protecting the public.

For anyone interested, Shawn mentioned the "Whole Community" theory for EMS. Here is a link to a FEMA PDF document about it...
www.fema.gov/media-library-data/20130726-1813-25045-0649/whole_community_dec2011__2_.pdf

 

[chad albee]

I work for the sheriffs office as a dispatcher and I also do storm tracking for our county. We have a lot of citizens in rural areas with no sirens, so the deputies and I try to provide a little warning to them as well as do search and rescue. It's great if I happen to get video of a tornado provided no one is in the immediate damage path. Sometimes the chasers are all that rural residents have for warning especially if they lose power. I think it would be a good idea for anyone thinking of becoming a spotter or chaser to take a free class put on by nws and skywarn or ride along a few times with an experienced chaser. I've seen quite a few chasers in the field that had no experience that I wouldn't trust with a glow stick that don't care about others safety. The latter are the ones causing problems for the rest of us.

 

[Jason Boggs]

I also disagree with the article; and agree with the overall sentiment of this thread. The only problems I saw in DDC were "Local" thrill seekers, who should not be confused with storm chasers and so often are. Here is a short clip from my DDC video showing a local sitting in the window of a truck while having his thumb up and yelling "whoops" at storm chasers.

But how do you, or anyone else (police) etc...know the difference between a legit storm chaser, or just some knucklehead (in the video) wanting to see a tornado? More and more legit chasers are going low profile now in order to not stick out as much.

 

[rdale]

Attacking storm chasers doesn’t accomplish anything, and it’s often misinformed

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...ccomplish-anything-and-its-often-misinformed/

 

[Jake Orosi]

They say "storm chasers" usually - that means locals and non locals all in one. I don't think there is too much difference what state the license plate says if a road is blocked by too many storm watchers.

Yeah I've said this a time or two in discussions like these - "local" is a weirdly arbitrary way to differentiate. Yeah they're local, but they're still storm chasing - they just haven't driven as far. Anyone here, supposing a setup came straight to your town, or you only had to drive a couple of towns over to get to it - would you consider yourself a "local yahoo" at that point, or would you still think of yourself as a "real chaser"? I bet you it would be the latter.

 

[JamesCaruso]

Yeah I've said this a time or two in discussions like these - "local" is a weirdly arbitrary way to differentiate. Yeah they're local, but they're still storm chasing - they just haven't driven as far. Anyone here, supposing a setup came straight to your town, or you only had to drive a couple of towns over to get to it - would you consider yourself a "local yahoo" at that point, or would you still think of yourself as a "real chaser"? I bet you it would be the latter.

Of course that's literally true but I think in our community when we refer to "locals" it's understood to mean those that are not actually chasers and came out for perhaps the first time, only because a storm happens to be in their town and they want to see what all the fuss is about. "Local yahoos," although derogatory, is a little more clear, as it differentiates between locals with no chasing experience and no serious approach to chasing, versus those that are truly local chasers as you describe.




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