Chasing Storms…

For those of you that know me in real life, you are already aware of the fact that I’ve wanted to chase storms for a long time now, probably every since I saw the movie ‘Twister’, but most recently since I met up with Reed Timmer and his crew as they passed through Central Arkansas last year. Granted, storm chasing probably isn’t the safest hobby out there in comparison to stamp collecting or building model trains, so this isn’t something I’ve just jumped in the truck one evening and decided that I was going to give a try. I have way to much to lose to be that careless. I’ve got an awesome wife, brand new baby boy, successful business, etc., so I’ve approached this hobby probably as cautiously as I’ve approached anything before in my life.

Some of you might also find this hard to believe but lately I’ve actually attended classes ranging from storm spotter certification to community emergency response training. I’ll put it this way, if someone gets a compound fracture while on the trail of a storm I can hook them up. I can also blow up things if need be (we actually got to play w/ explosives in our CERT training -if you haven’t checked out CERT classes from FEMA, I highly recommend them). I’ve actually attended two storm spotter certification classes so I’m pretty sure I’ve got a good grasp on what to look for and report (it takes some of us twice for things to set in). I’m also in the process of getting my HAM radio license so I can join in on the Central Arkansas Radio Emergency Network and report any storms that we might be in pursuit of. In addition to actual classroom training I’ve also consumed tons of online training (from wherever I can find it) to learn as much as I can. Needless to say though that I approached my first outing acknowledging the fact that I’m a true amateur and proceeded with caution and wasn’t near as aggressive as I could have been.

As I was packing my truck the other night w/ computer equipment, radios, cameras, etc., I had butterflies in my stomach as I listened in to radio operators reporting damages and actual storms on the ground. I got so excited I literally almost forgot my cell phone or to kiss my wife goodbye. It was nerve racking and adrenaline fueled at the same time. My co-pilot, Bryan Britt, was our navigator and also our camera-man all rolled up in one. We had a blast, he eventually got used to my insane backwoods driving and we had a very enjoyable evening. We learned a lot, for instance we need a better solution for the macbook than just propping it up on the console of the truck. We also need at least two more people to ride along because neither one of us ever had a chance to tweet or monitor the #arwx twitter feed as we rolled. The next time we get on the chase we will definitely be a lot better prepared, I’ve decided to go ahead and bite the bullet and install some equipment on my rig to feed us some data during the chase, for instance wind speed, temps, etc. I should have everything installed this next week in time for our next chase.

I think we have two ride along people ready to make the chase with us as well as about 10 alternates that have expressed an interest, or begged. I think our little operation even has a name now, more on that later, but one real exciting thing happened on our first chase and that was that I had an opportunity to do my first on-air report as a certified storm spotter with my good friend Bob Connell’s radio station KFFB in Fairfield Bay. I hope to provide them more information in the future as well when they have tornado activity in their area.

And finally, the answer to the question that I’ve been asked by both my friends and my family, why in the world would I want to do this? My answer is simple, it’s an adrenaline fueled hobby that allows you to spend countless hours on the edge of your seat, doing your best to predict mother nature using science, reasoning, and even a little math. This is exactly the type of hobby I hope to one day share with my son if he’s interested. My reasoning for doing it now is so that I can have a good grasp on the sport, and know how to be safe before I ever load him up to go on a chase. Yeah, it’s probably unconventional when other dads take their kids fishing and teach them to play golf, and I’m sure I’ll do those things with him too, but I have a feeling he’s going to love it one day just like I do, and if he isn’t the least bit amused, we will do whatever he wants to do instead.

In case you missed the pics from our first chase, they are available online here…