Storm Chasing Adventure Tours is all about consistency. Nobody finds more tornadoes and severe storms than we do. We are conistently the first on the scene as storms form and we're consistently closer to tornadoes and severe storms than anyone, but we still keep you safe. We can back-up our statements: View our photos and videos to see why we are the world's most respected storm chasing tour company.
Some storm chasing tour companies lack close tornado photos and videos or have very few of them. If they have been chasing for years, like they say they have, then they should have many storm photos on their website. Do they? You get the point. There are only a few good chasing groups out there that know what they are doing. The others simply don't have the experience to get their guests close enough or in the right position to experience tornadoes and severe thunderstorms.
Look at our closely photos and videos. As you can see, we are the real deal.
Many storm chasing tour websites have slick-looking images of the weather radar software they use. Guess what? In today's world of mobile data technology all storm chasers have the same software capability, meaning we also use the same 3D weather radar as they do. Why are we so much better than the rest? About 60% of storm chasing relies on visual clues from the sky. It takes years to learn how to read the sky, a skill that can vastly increase your chances of seeing severe weather.
The other 40% of storm chasing is knowing how to read weather data and knowing if the visual clues match that data or not. Too many chasers go where the computer forecast models tell them to. The truth is that these forecast models are not accurate enough to predict exactly where severe weather will occur and can only give an estimated location. If you rely heavily on forecast models and don't use visual clues, you are going to miss a great deal of storms and tornadoes.
A Typical Chase Day
Each
morning, we analyze the upper air and surface data, forecast models,
satellite imagery, and other types of weather data. We
also will call
our severe weather consultant for his input. With all this information,
we will forecast the best severe weather target area for the day.We will depart our hotel at about 9:00 a.m. after discussing the forecast and target area with our tour guests. We wait until mid-morning because new upper air data is not available before that time. We will refine the target area as the day goes on with any new information we obtain from our mobile Internet system and continual radar updates as we drive to the target area.
Due to prime storm chasing time being in the late afternoon and early evening hours, we try to find a locally popular restaurant for lunch, which may become our main meal of the day. By 4 to 6 p.m. we want to be in the vicinity of the severe weather target area on chase days, so late afternoon rest stops tend to be fast food or snack opportunities.
Since we may be in very rural areas for the
afternoon and evening storm
chases, stopping for dinner might not be possible until 9 p.m. or
later.
Please note that we will not stop for dinner once the active chase
begins to avoid missing potential severe weather. We may not arrive at
our hotel until after
11 p.m. or later, especially if there is a good lightning show in our
chase area. When there are no storms or on non-chase days, we should
arrive at our hotel around 5 to 7 p.m.During your trip, you'll be part of an important service that relays timely information back to the National Weather Service to help prevent loss of life, injury and property damage in local areas affected by severe storms.
Sights and Storms
Each
tour experiences supercell thunderstorms and lightning shows at night.
When conditions warrant, tornadoes form and we chase them until they
dissipate. We're never close enough to comprimise our guests' safety,
but we do position ourselves so that we can be closer to tornadoes than
other tours. This allows for the maximum tornado experience and the
pictures you'll take will be out of this world. We cannot guarantee
that you will see a tornado because they happen on 25 to 30% of tours, but we can say that you will have a great experience seeing great storm structure and the beautiful scenery of the Plains.On some tours, you'll be able to see university and government storm chasers with Doppler on Wheels (DOW) equipment and other reasearch tools. During most tours in 2010, you'll have a chance to see the VORTEX2 research team from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Science Foundation (NSF). The VORTEX2 team is comprised of over 40 vehicles, some of them having advanced research equipment and radars. National news media regularly travels with this reasearch group, so you'll see nationally-televised thunderstorms if you happen to be chasing near VORTEX2 on your tour.
The Discovery Channel's Storm Chasers
TV show crew also makes regular appearances during the season. From
time to time you may see the Tornado Intercept Vehicle (TIV) from the
show pass by on your tour. This vehicle is equiped with an IMAX camera
and is able to withstand a direct hit from a weak tornado. It's a real
thrill to see a television show in production right there in Tornado
Alley, so be sure to look for the TIV while you're out there.Chase Territory
We will travel as far as necessary to have the best chance for tornado viewing. This area covers Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Eastern Colorado, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Eastern Montana, Eastern Wyoming, Missouri, Wisconsin, Minnesota and other Midwestern states.