What Will You Add / Change To Your Chasing In 2026?

[Warren Faidley]

I always enjoy posting this thread at the end of the year to see what other chasers are changing or upgrading for the upcoming chase season.

With no U.S. landfalling hurricanes this year, I was finally able to zero out the gear budget and pick up a new Apple M4 “super computer” and a BenQ monitor. AI is the future—whether people love it or hate it—and not all of it is the villain it’s made out to be. Being able to restore old, grainy DV footage into clean 1080i or even 4K is nothing short of incredible. There is a naughty part of me that hopes AI will neutralize social media abuse and level the playing field.

This year I also used AI to analyze social media platforms and confirm what many of us have suspected: chasers are being throttled and shadow-banned, while a select group of high-end monetizers benefit from boosted visibility—even profiting off reposts of our work. Because of that, I’ve stopped uploading native images and footage directly to social media. Instead, I’m using reposts with links back to my own homepage, where the content is protected from the social-media vampires. I’m planning to expand this operation through 2026 and continue digging into how widespread this abuse really is. Hopefully, one day these companies will be held accountable.

Armed with the Sony A9 III, I’ll be working to replace years of lightning footage that was previously unusable because of shutter lines. In many cases, AI can now remove those artifacts and restore the originals.

For 2026, I’ll target the usual peak tornado season with my chase partners. I’m also open to a Dixie Alley chase if the right high-risk setup hits the right location. The Storm Ranger will be getting a 360° camera upgrade as well.

I’ve developed several compact remotes for hurricane deployment—capable of recording over nine hours of stabilized 4K footage—and I’ve refined my livestreaming capabilities for working inside storm surge conditions.

It’ll be interesting to see whether the 2026 monsoon season offers the same haboob opportunities we had in 2025. I’ve built several remotes specifically for dust-storm work and will also be assisting with a project collecting dust samples.

As for winter, I’m hoping the Santa Ana fire season stays quiet. Recent rains have greened things up, which can be good or bad depending on how fast they dry. I’ll be ready to deploy to California ahead of any high-risk events.

And of course, earthquakes in California are always on my radar—especially after such a quiet stretch. My bags are packed and ready if Mother Nature decides to get restless.

 

[Sean Ramsey]

I enjoy these types of posts too. Especially when I actually have changes to make.

This year I'm going all-in on live streaming and putting storm photography on the backburner. I've photographed storms for the better part of 25 years now and the cupboard is full of images that have quite a bit of redundancy, so it's time to make a change for now.

That being said, I'll be taking an alternative approach from the chaser-dude weather entertainment approach that is well established at this point. I have no problems with it myself, but I've always seen things in the sky a little differently.

My live streaming setup will include a 360° roof cam, the standard "drive down the road" dash cam and all the necessary equipment needed for a rock solid stream without data hiccups,

All areas of the plains will be on the table, and marginal setups are probably going to get a bit more attention this year. I'm not a big fan of chasing junk, but I'll be a bit more motivated to get out this year I think. Since I'll be back part time with my old chasing partner, some setups in the southeast may be on the table as well.

I've stopped sharing my images on social media completely this year, although I did bring back my X account for reporting purposes if necessary. There will be no push to gain followers so no pressure to be first or closest to anything. And without caring whether someone sees my photos or not, I can approach chasing free from a lot of the things that make it not so great.

Mostly the goal is the same though. Soak up the beauty, don't get caught up in the thrill, relax, stay safe and avoid crowds when possible. The seasons are short so I'm trying to enjoy them as much as possible without any extra noise. Last season I felt close to being done all together, but with this upcoming season I'm finding purpose and feeling the itch to chase again, much like it was when I first started. Hopefully it stays that way.

 

[Warren Faidley]

I should add that I have completely given-up on any form of social media monetizing, so there will be a LOT less pressure in 2026 to gain followers or post high end material. I thought for awhile that social media was using normal / honest business modeling, but AI research changed my mind. It's a rabbit hole and money pit for young creatives / chasers. The only reason I'll continue to provide live feeds in 2026 is for public information.... since I'm there anyways.

 

[Shaun Kelly]

I drifted away from chasing for a decade or so after chasing 90s-20teens, but got back into it after the pandemic and actually got a trip down south in June last year. We had a pretty good setup, but I think some incremental improvements:

1) Parfocal zoom for video - I screwed up my footage of the Not-GarySD tornado in Danvers, MN because I was trying to do manual focus on my Fuji after getting tired of the poor autofocus performance on low-contrast grungy setups. I plan to get a Cine zoom for the X-H2S, maybe the Fukjinon MK 18-55 or the Laowa S35 Ranger 17-50. Both are T2.9 and be an upgrade in the longer zoom range anyways from what I had been shooting. The current lenses will work fine on the stills Fuji.

2) I had switched to an on-camera external mic (Sennheiser MKE200) but on highly electrical storms it seems like there is some lightning static getting into the audio, maybe the cheap cables not shielded enough. I was using a Tascam DR-05 last year for a field recorder and that seebed better, plan to upgrade to something 32 bit like the Zoom H5 studio, and set up timecode sync with the video. Anyone else had issues with mics and static pops?

3) I really like my Insta360 X4 on the roof, combplete with water-resistant USB power to the car so battery doesn't go dead. I know the X5 is out and bigger sensor, and some rumors say the X6 might be out by chase season, so upgrading that might be in order.

4) I have a former law enforcement Ford Explorer and they had the privacy glass, and it's not terribly easy to see out the back anyway. I may upgrade the (old) gopro dashcam to a (less old) one, and see if I can mount the other one in the back window or maybe outside and HDMI cable it to a monitor up front, for better rear visibility. Alternately, is anyone using a Point-Tilt-Zoom wifi sucerity camera on their roof?

5) Lastly, while the super wide of the Insta360 and gopros is nice for structure like the Nara Visa storm, for the tornadoes my sister and I got on last year (7-8 miles, low contrast) they don't provide the redundancy I had hoped for. I might wast something with a zoom, but am not sure whether gimbaling a Fuji inside the car or getting some sort of compact camera might be better, or if it only seems like a problem because of our luck this season.

 

[Jason Boggs]

I bought new tires for the rig this year. I need to replace the rotors, brakes, and windshield as well. As far as storm chasing changes are concerned, I will absolutely be well east of the dryline this year. I've been behind storms far too often the last couple of years.