We are Storm Chasers!

[Michael Wilkinson]

How awesome it is that we get to be a part of such a distinguished group. There are more players in the NFL than there are those of us that chase storms every Spring. If you gathered all of us into one of those NFL stadiums, you would say that the place looked empty. That’s how few people there are that call themselves storm chasers.

Normal people don’t normally chase storms. Whatever it is in your life experience that led you to becoming what you are, it’s made you different from others.

Very soon it will be time again to take your hail damaged vehicle to a destination that is unknown until you arrive. You can’t be sure of anything that will happen that day except that the ride will be long. The bump bump bump hypnotic sound of the struts that you never replaced will try to convince you that any reasonable person would just go back home.

How dare those thoughts try to convince you that somehow you’re not reasonable! After all, what would be reasonable about spending money you don’t have on struts that you’re about to destroy again in the biggest pothole in Texas dirt road history?!

You knew you weren’t turning back.

Continuing on was the only option. Now, you’re standing in a remote field looking at the sky. You notice the white van with the cool stickers parking just behind you. You hear voices of those that paid to come from half a world away to see what you’re seeing. You realize that if you were a millionaire in Australia or a business tycoon in Europe, that you would still be exactly where you are at that moment.

You’re one of the hundred elite that picked the right storm, you know that you belong; the loneliness disappears.

 

[JamesCaruso]

Well said @Michael Wilkinson ! We should all take pride in this avocation. It is certainly a key part of my self-identity, which makes it suck that I can only do it two weeks per year, and when I have a bad season (whether due to nature's fault or my own) it's an empty feeling to leave that aspect of who I am unfulfilled / not actualized for another whole year. But of course there are ways to enjoy being a "weather geek" away from the Plains too, and this knowledge of severe storms and other weather phenomena remains an important part of who I am. In my professional life as a CPA, I used to avoid talking about storm chasing, but I later embraced it as part of my "personal brand" and found that it gave people something to remember me by; it helped me to stand out from the crowd when it came to my professional network.

Anyway, the poetic ending to your post is a reminder that all the frustration involved in storm chasing ultimately makes it all worthwhile.

 

[Stu Short]

lol Define "normal"

As someone who flies out from the UK every Spring for a month, I'd warrant that even a bust day is still a good day. Yes its disheartening when the weather doesn't play ball, but I still got to drive around the Midwest for the day, take in the vastness of the sky, go to sleep in a different state that I woke up in, sample the local culture and cuisine and kick back with a few beers at the end of the day and prep for the following.
It's not a holiday. It's not a hobby. It's a calling.