Frequently Asked Questions
Becoming a storm chaser isn't as simple as it sounds. You'll need a thorough knowledge of how the atmosphere works, storm structure & behavior, and lots of study time. Read all you can. Learn to forecast. Practice, practice, practice. And then practice forecasting...MORE! And don't just do it in the spring. Learn to analyze winter weather, heat waves, hurricanes/tropical cyclones, long-term climate patterns. Do it all year long. If you don't use it, you loose it.
Check out the essays on my Links page concerning storm chasing.
Simple. Even though that one storm may only affect a few thousand people, to those folks that storm is big news. If a storm is tornadic or particularly severe, it's possible that lives could be saved.
See the About Me page.
One that is reliable, in safe working order, and gets good gas mileage. Obviously motorcycles, convertibles, and itsy-bitsy sports cars are out. Driving the coolest, most stylish SUV won't help either. If you don't know what you're doing, you'll loose nothing but money and time. Speaking of money, with fuel prices at all time highs, many chasers will be more concerned about good gas mileage than ever before. At almost $4.00/gallon, make sure your vehicle is well maintained for optimum fuel efficiency. Most successful chasers drive MODESTLY priced minivans, small passenger sedans, or small SUV's.
Oh, by the way...whether your chase vehicle is old or NEW, it will get the inevitable hail dents. Unavoidable, even when you're careful.
Depends on your point of reference. During the day, most tornadoes occur sometime between late afternoon through the evening. During the year, most tornadoes in the United States occur during the months of April, May, and June. Needless to say, with all the variables that exist in nature, these are sweeping generalizations and exceptions to the rule occur all the time.
I don't know. Not a clue. Unfortunately I can't answer questions emailed to me about El Nino, La Nina, oscillations, phases of the moon, or your neighborhood dog's nocturnal howling and how they/it might effect the "Tornado Season." Do what I do, just take one day at a time.
Remember, the the world of science is unlike any other (religion, business, law, politics, engineering, et al.) for there aren't always definite answers. Learn to be comfortable with a wide spectrum of "grays" and answers that lead to multiple complex questions. That's half the fun of science anyway and why I love it so much, it's the never ending quest for answers to almost unanswerable questions.