What is Your Least Favorite Part of Storm Chasing?
My all means that would be night-time chasing. I have had a couple near misses with a tornado at night. I had RFD (rear flank downdraft )winds blast me and lift the back end of my chase vehicle.
What is the Greatest Storm You Ever Chased?
That would be the storm I first spoke about above that got me interested in this in the first place.
What About Close Calls?
This would go along with my least favorite part where I spoke about the near misses with a couple tornadoes.
How Long Does it Take to Build a Chase Car?
I have a local shop do most of the radio gear. On the Durango they do the major stuff in 1 day and then as I add new equipment, it can take a few years. The total time I paid for labor for everything installed was almost 30 hours. My new chase vehicle has nothing at all in it and I will be making a video diary on the building of a chase vehicle and can be more accurate when this one is done. I am slowly ordering new radios, antennas, weather instruments, lighting, and cameras for it.
How About “Storm Chase Vacations”? What Do You Think of These?
Well, if I wasn't a chaser I would have already been on a ”chasecation” as we call them. I have people ride along with me from time to time so I know there are people wanting to get close to Mother Nature at her worst. I understand why they go on these week long chases. My son is soon to be 13 and rides with me a lot as does my wife. My son doesn't complain to me like my wife does when she goes with me but I still enjoy it either way!
Anything Else You Would Like to Add?
Never go chasing on your own. Don’t go chasing unless you have knowledge of storm structure. If you need more than that I have a story or 2 about a chase day when my wife was out with me and she was driving and I was doing speaking with the TV station and we were heard live on the air arguing.By the way, every year I attend several classes put on by the National Weather Service. One of these classes is done in an evening and then there are the more advanced ones that are 3 days long. This year I will also be attending the storm chaser convention since they have started doing seminars at it as well.
