Not sure if you say it in the video as I’m typing this as soon as I saw it, but that first clip is someone I watch, high risk chris. Insane video to watch. Fortunately he got out alive that day.
As I was listening to your bullet about maintaining situational awareness, I was like, “ Ok, but how…”, and you made your real point here: if you think you’ve lost SA, get out of dodge! That at least should be easy to do.
It would be really cool if someone made a storm chasing simulator. Just get a giant world map like flight simulator did. Put you in a little driving simulator inside of that world. And then just generate weather based off of existing historical storm data and let people "try" to chase a storm or drop some intercept equipment in the path. I I think it could be relatively easy to make, but also really awesome
They kinda already have it. On Roblox. Called Twisted. The map is a lot smaller, I guess about the size of a small county but you can actually probe and intercept in it.
It would not be easy to make at a world map scale or making the physics semi realistic. You would need the budget of Microsoft and a ton of developers and many many years of time.
There are two games on Steam that are exactly what you are talking about. The first one is called Storm Chasers. It’s been out for a while and is in early access. A more recent release is a game called OUTBRK. You play as a storm chaser on a huge open world map. Taking photos and placing probes for data. Both games have similar approaches to the concept.
This already exists. On steam there’s a storm chasing game called OUTBRK which released in early access a few months ago. You need a pretty decent PC, but it’s quite well made
Chasing has come a LONG way from back in the 1970s. My husband did some volunteer chasing for University of Oklahoma's Weather Research Center when they were working on calibrating the Doppler radars for tornadoes. Back then, it was CB radios, a clip board for notes and observations, a map you could pick up at the corner store, and binoculars. He knew what tornadoes did, growing up in Oklahoma, and where to stay safe. But it was radio in with the report, "I see where it should be, it's out here somewhere close, on a dirt road outside OKC, I can hear it but it's in the rain...." He graduated OU in 1978 and he loves watching the chases now and would love to go, but he's in his late 60s and as he said, I have no business chasing my Sheltie, never mind a tornado." And, those rules you have make perfect sense. I hope chasers memorize that stuff.
I would love to be able to chase way back then of course that was before my time I'm afraid the new movie that came out is going to make things way worse a bunch of people are going to suddenly call themselves storm chasers without training or education
@@acr08807 as far as I'm aware of there is no actual training course available it's pretty much self-taught I learned a lot by watching RUclips videos Skip Talbot is excellent but it takes a lot you got to be a good driver you have to know how to use cameras radar you have to know the storm visually so that you're safe you cannot rely on radar you have to learn how to forecast weather and that's the basics
@@acr08807 I'm not aware of any training classes or anything like that fortunately it's pretty much self-talk I learned a lot by watching RUclips videos Skip Talbot is one of the best in this before anybody goes out chasing a tornado they should be or have a good driver know how to use radar no their camera very well know they're visual cues how to recognize a storms parts and what they do because you cannot rely on a radar basic forecasting and probably some basic first aid at least this is just kind of a minimum to do things safely off the top of my head
Thank you for mentioning the Lawrence KS storm in 2019. I was working the front desk of a hotel in Topeka, not too far down the road from the tornado. That tour group (Silver Linings) came into the hotel for the night; they all looked like they’d been through hell. The tour managers were shaken. Roger Hill (tour leader) had cuts and scrapes all over his face and arms. They were incredibly lucky. I’m definitely referencing this video in the future!
I had NEVER been more grateful that my college Haskell refused to take my tuition money that they had in their possession since before spring break 2018 that I couldn’t go back the next year. I’m mad that they kept me from continuing college but I’m glad I couldn’t go back to Lawrence. I have a really bad tornado phobia
@@windwatcher11rodger hill isn't a legend he's a moron that doesn't know what he's doing he gets way to close to tornados he doesn't deserve to be a storm chaser
@sweetwolfsteve5583 It's odd, it didn't used to be this way, especially with tour groups, and Roger's was one of the safer tours out there. The culture has changed.
The reason it is blowing up in population is because all the kids who grew up watching "storm chasers" on TV are now becoming adults. Source: I was that kid. I still hold that interest and have gone several times but am using my in-progress aerospace degree to make a device I hope to distribute to storm chasers to gather data on tornadoes themselves in a safer manner than normal.
What stuck with me the most about that show is how much effort was put into making their cars capable of surviving a tornado. I distinctly remember how 1 car had essentially lake stakes that would stab into the ground to anchor the vehicle, and the other car had hydrolics to lower itself and maybe a skirt. The point of both of those was to avoid getting rolled or lifted. I'm not sure what other modifications they had, but i would consider a rollcage very reasonable. And while its good that people are inspired to be part of the profession, there is a difference between a professional with reasonable preparations, and an amateur making poor life choices in a stock prius, or worse van/truck.
Another great example for Bullet 7 of dead end roads is the Bowdle SD tornado of 2010, around a dozen or so chasers went down a dirt road and it just ended even thought the online maps showed it didnt, the chasers decided to go off road into a field as a last resort to where they would get suck in mud as tornado vortices pass 40~ feet away from some chase vehicles
@@jther7542 The trouble with maps (digital or paper) is that they have deliberate falsehoods in order to catch copying. This is actually more of a problem for storm chasers than the average user, as these errors are typically placed in the countryside where less people are likely to run into them.
If it’s not mentioned already, I would add that it’s probably better to chase with someone else in the car, rather than doing it alone. One person drives, one person navigates and interprets the data. Edit: nvm he mentioned it 😅
@@commiehunter733 Or single-handily raise auto insurance rates by renting cars and intentionally destroying them for views like one very popular tornado chaser.
I'm sure the physical graphics take a lot of time but I love them. Unique but not distracting. It's so fun to watch your channel grow since the Parkersburg video. :)
Fantastic video. This almost feels like an updated version of Skip Talbot's video from a few years back, and I think all of these points are absolutely worth that update!
I agree. It’s very telling that Ethan pulls a lot of the same points that Skip has covered, especially in his Pilger, El Reno series, Lone Star, and Lewistown videos. Skip is great at going into details and insights, and Ethan is great at condensing those messages into succinct points
As always watching this I was thinking somebody has been watching Skip's videos I admire Skip a lot and even got to shake his hand at a convention watching his videos has really taught me a lot
Interesting thing about using the photo of the Greenfield tornado - I'm sure it's not only an example of the "ghost train", but also another direct example of "the visible tornado is not the whole tornado". In videos you can see that a wind turbine well out to the side of the funnel and not in the rear inflow jet is crumpled, which Tim Marshall estimates to require wind speeds of 120-140mph (as a sneak peek of the updated EF scale). You can also see on the damage survey map that the damage indicators to EF2 are quite widely spaced.
Thank you for making this video. As a child I was haunted by nightmares about tornadoes chasing and killing me and my family, ruining everything. I was traumatized. As a result, I vowed to return the favor. Before I die I will chase a tornado. I've studied extreme weather throughout all my school years as a hobby and while I could stand to be a bit more informed, I am still determined nonetheless. Don't let your fears hold you back. Edit: sorry, got a little too into it. Forgot my original purpose for leaving this comment. When I go storm chasing, I'm gonna have your bullets on a list for all parties involved!
The El Reno tornado, like others that behaved similarily, acted like a low-pressure system. In this case, like what you see with it diving SE through the Rockies. Then it turns NE, following the trough, and undergoes cyclogenesis, before turning back to the east, and eventually dying. Tornadoes never fail to amuse me, because of their unique behavior. Also why I keep studying. Thank you very much for making this video!
So did the Greensburg tornado and the following three mile wide Teousdale tornadoes. Radar was able to pick up their vortex holes for the first time in history. They are actually called tornado cyclones .
Also, for 19:05 - A great example of task saturation is Eastern Airlines 401. A plane that crashed in the Florida Everglades because the pilots got distracted by a defective landing gear light bulb. During troubleshooting attempts, the captain unknowingly nudged the control column, taking the plane out of its horizontal altitude hold from there the plane slowly lost its remaining altitude until it crashed.
From a safety standpoint and I don’t know if this is still the case for you, but don’t mount your phone on your dash for storm chasing. Get an iPad and mount that, then hotspot it using your phone’s connection. First of all, you don’t have to squint as much/you’ll see a great storm area - but more importantly, your phone should be on your person in case of an emergency. You might even prevent neck/tension related injuries.
Such an amazing video man. Every storm chaser should watch the full length of this video. Even me myself, after chasing so much over 2 years, learned alot. Well done :)
I can appreciate what you're trying to do in this video helping others be safe in their passion chasing. I would however correct some information related to the SLT incident. That day we actually turned south away from the main meso (after being parked and watching it) which ended up producing the stronger tornado that hit Linwood/Lawrence area, at the time it was not on the ground. As we went south a smaller tornado was embedded in the RFD and hadn't appeared on the radar scan until we were getting hit. We have pushed through RFD plenty of times when leaving a main circulation and this time unfortunately we crossed paths with a handoff tornado. It was rare, and lots of people miss our perspective on this. We did however change our policy on distance from High Precip supercells especially in a commercial environment. Hope that helps.
This will make for a very, very great learning tool , and every chaser out there should watch over and over. As well as every person who wants to become a chaser. Thank you for creating this
11:04 with that incident there was actually a storm chasing crew just ahead of them that actually did manage to escape, and they picked up on the radio the words "we're gonna to die, we're gonna die" and people have come to the possible conclusion they picked up twistx's true final words that were not able to broadcast due to the tornado and they only picked it up cuz they were close enough.
There was a guy just ahead of them got footage with a rear dashcam of the TwistX team's car's lights being swallowed by the tornado. But the person who heard someone screaming "We're gunna die" over the radio was a nearby cop.
I feel like you should tag Celton Henderson, who made a video pretty openly flaunting the fact that he didn't make some very basic safety decisions and treated it as though it was some heroic endeavor. I like Celton a lot, but I thought his framing was honestly a pretty poor choice. Great work, this really builds a lot on work that Skip Talbot's done. Fantastic work.
@@junefirst Is Celton the chase that was trapped by fallen live power lines an in the Lewistown, IL tornado? Or was that another team. I remember seeing footage of it but can't remember exactly who it was.
Never, ever center punch! That is, approach the tornado from the left (usually north) side of the supercell. Did that once (in my brand new car - this was almost 50 yrs ago) and luckily the large hail made me stop and pull under a gas station canopy. Had I proceeded 1/4 mile further, I would have drove smack into it.
Good information. I've never thought of it in terms of bullet points or a checklist, but this is the stuff I keep in the back of my head any time I'm going to be out on the road in bad weather during the Spring in Oklahoma. I don't chase storms, but I was driving back from visiting my mom in Texas back in May of 2024 behind a supercell that spawned several weak tornadoes in Oklahoma City. My husband and adult daughter were in our storm shelter at home, kinda freaking out because I was literally following the storm into town. I had checked radar and knew it was going to get bad before I made it to Norman much less home to OKC, and had purposefully slowed my progress so the storm would stay North of me no matter when it progressed East, specifically because I didn't want to end up anywhere near the notch at night. Once I was back on the road, I was listening solely to chasers with eyes on it a lot closer than I was tracking exactly when tornadoes came down, where, and which way they were moving, basically with a constant running map of the area in my head so I had several different ways to escape if any of them decided to really get crazy and turn into a giant wedge and start spitting out sub-vortices or doing loops like the 2013 El Reno tornado did. I worked on 19th st in Moore and the May 20th, 2013 EF5 missed where I was by about 2 blocks and flattened the neighborhoods right behind us (where I worked is a Sam's Club now, but it was Convergys back then), and having come out in what was essentially ground zero and seeing what was left of places I drove by every day and suddenly not having any visual landmarks of what was around me other than the few buildings around that hadn't been hit was very sobering. South of us looked normal, but everything else was just...like an alternate universe or something.
First time we drove through Joplin after “the big one” destroyed the city it was disorienting having no landmarks anymore. You don’t realize how much you rely on the landscape until it’s all gone.
NOAA had storm spotter meetings once a year when I was growing up in the 90’s. Nextrad was brand new then, and nobody but the folks in the movie twister had radar on the road. They described a difference between storm chasers like in that newly released movie, and trained storm spotters. Spotters will keep a safe distance, and report what they see with details including where they are. The country radio station KFDI near Wichita Ks, with their spotters on the road is a great example of the best at their job at the time. The main reason for staying a safe distance, is so you can see everything. If you are in the debris cloud, you are in the tornado. No matter how small it appears. You can’t help anyone when you are in the tornado and you can’t see Jack. Trying to chase it 10 or 20 miles down dirt roads and two lane hw’s for a slightly better view, only puts everyone on the road at risk. Including first responders. The amount of oil on roads will have not had a chance to rinse away, and keel clay is slick as snot when crushed into pavement from a crossing dirt road. This was also a time when they rarely sounded tornado sirens with just radar signatures alone. They often waited for a confirmed sighting for the warning. So chances were good if you were relying on a siren, you were 15 min too late. You had to watch the sky and know what you were seeing. NOAA never would have wanted anyone to linger or travel into the notch. Call me old, but as a kid from the 90’s. I cringe when I see chasers in the debris cloud. If craps flying that can hurt you or break a side window. Then you are too close and you need to high tail it out of there, or take immediate shelter. Your chances of being a call that first responders have to handle, goes up significantly. Mistakes happen. Some tragedies can’t be avoided when all the holes in the Swiss cheese line up. But to risk it intentionally? Don’t be that guy.
Great job Ethan. I've taken several storm spotter classes throughout the years and while I learned stuff in those I feel like I learned more just in this one video. Thank you
Amazing Quality Chaser Safety Video ! I wanna mention a Chase you have missed is the May 4th 2022 Crowell /Lockett Tornado. When Tourgroup Cloud 9 got hit by the Backside RFD from the Tornado, when all Windows blew out and hurt some Passengers. But nobody got seriously hurt. For El Reno the case what happened to Daniel Shaw is also a Warning , that you should never Underestimate the Beast and trust the Radar to much. He was dam lucky getting hit by Truck that forced him the stop and survived behind the Canopy of it.
[11:45] Couldn't help but chuckle at the comedic, albeit dark irony behind the choice of attire for that shot when considering the topic of this video. 👍 That being said, this was another phenomenal presentation, Ethan. Really appreciate the time and effort you put into these projects. Not to mention, your video editing continues to get better with each and every upload. Don't think we aren't noticing! Thanks for sharing, as always. Please, keep up the amazing work, my friend!
Damn! This is an excellent video! I loved how detailed it was while also being engaging and informative. You deserve way more subscribers for high quality content like this! I look forward to future videos :)
Bridges out: I can't tell you how many times I've been on a dirt or low grade road during a warning (more or less any generic point setting up during a chase) and had that road run into a bridge that's being rebuilt with no warning until you're right there. Once, I even had to risk crossing over the raw dirt between me and a creek where a bridge was getting rebuilt just to save my hide. Google Maps does not tell you when these are out. Tons of companies have taken advantage of the >50% of bridges - on pavement and off - that have any issue of structural integrity with them, and if one's out, you can bet one near it will be the next year.
Dude this is a great video; it summarizes so many key points in chasing safety! These are all vital aspects to keep in mind. Hopefully, chasers will keep these ten bullets in mind through the years ahead, and avoid accidents like some of these!
Well done. I would also note that some of your best shots of a storm are sitting back and not being on top of it. This current idea of trying to get as close as possible is too risky.
Personally i would try and get a good RC plane set up for the close-ups. And that would allow the car doing the more traditional chase to stay farther back and in safer positions. While it would be more expensive to get a "drone" (plane not quad copter) with the required speed range, flight time, and camera mounting hardware. If the drone gets hit by the tornado you are only out a drone, not your car and life. (It would also probably need to be a fueled plane and not an electric one) Although I'm sure even a relatively cheap drone with a good enough control range would be useful.
@@deadshot4245 exactly, with constant live telemetry you won't lose any data if the drone is destroyed. And a fueled one should be fast enough to keep up with the storm, and may even be able to make headway even in the stonger winds around a tornado. Fundamentally the concept is just like "probes" in Star Trek, except in the show they basically treat them as single use items, and IRL you wouldn't want a new drone after every chase.
@@jasonreed7522 no you save it for the right condition to do. if you could have one with bomb doors that can drop probes in as a delivery vehicle that can fly in front of the storm in the notch and drop probes from multiple altitudes and RTB then golden the key is not to destroy it but to make it a safe way to deploy smaller probes in
I remember there being a show around 2008 about professional storm chasers. Something that was emphasized was that their cars were not stock, 1 had anchors/stakes and the other had a skirt and hydrologics to drop down and prevent air from lifting up from below. I believe they also had bulletproof glass and other reinforcements. Bullet point 11 should be "know your vehicle", a stock anything isn't tanking a tornado, especially not a high profile vehicle like a truck or van.
I came across this video wanting to know the goods and the bands of the storm chasing, you made this well explained and well thought, thank you for this video subbed
Reminds me a little of the storm chasing handbook. But with some important details missing. I have my copy still. It follows me on every chase as there is still important information that can be useful to any chaser.
This is very well done sir. Will the advice be heeded? Only time will tell. For starters anyone choosing to chase in darkness might want to re-evaluate their life choices. Depending/counting on radar refresh, random transformers blowing and/or sporadic lightning for your view of the storm is a supremely BAD idea. Thanks very much.
IX Can add: the tornado is further away than you think it is - but it is moving way, way faster than you think it is. BTW, Greenfield was completely uncondensed at the first of its life; you could only see it from its debris and rear inflow jet ("ghost train"). I've even caught long-time professional chasers saying they won't confirm anything unless they're close enough to see debris or full condensation. Thats' fine for personal goals, but dangerous for personal safety.
Awesome video, man! I feel like every chaser should see this and it should be a part of the official NWS Skywarn spotter training! Another thing that I think is VERY important is overall storm motion. This season, we have gotten LOTS of southeast moving storms where I live. This causes the core to be on the SE side, and the mesocyclone (given a supercellular mode), to be on the NW side. This is completely opposite of where these features are on a typical NE moving storm. If you position just to the SE of the storm, which is considered the "safe" spot for NE movers, you are putting yourself DIRECTLY IN THE PATH of a SE mover. To add on to that, the variety of storm modes, and how you can have mixed modes! Where I live in SE Iowa, it is very rare to get "textbook" supercells with "textbook" radar echos. Most of the time, they are high precipitation and/or embedded in a multi-cell or a squall line here. This past June we got a MONSTER multi-cell made up of several embedded supercells, a few of which produced confirmed tornadoes. AND... it was a SE mover! I got many great shots of a visibly rotating and lowering wall cloud on the NORTH side of the storm. 😁 This whole 2024 season has been a crazy season of unusual storm modes and BIG tornadoes!
Great video. Great info. I’ve loved storms since I was a kid. I’ve always wanted to go chasing. I was just talking to a friend about it last night and she wants to go with me. But I told her that while I’ve learned a lot about radar and navigation, I don’t have the real world experience to do it alone or with another inexperienced person. Plus u have the fact that the big tornado possible days are going to have hundreds of other vehicles clogging up the roadways. I just sent her the video so we’ll see how excited she is after viewing it. But again, great video!
This video is awesome! I've been chasing storms for many, many years and you nailed everything that I had questions about. Great video and I pray that future storm chasers find this video you made. Stay safe and chase on!
Great video! Especially those few points about mindset and whats lining the road. Ive aborted many tornado intercepts because of trees ahead being in RFD winds.
This is a very interesting video. I hope that every storm chaser now and for years to come watches it! Enough cannot be said about situational awareness! It is an important skill to learn and have across many different disciplines. In my discipline, I lost situational awareness just for a brief few seconds and ended up with a severely broken leg on February 23rd.. It took the installation of a plate and seven screws to fix it. Had I maintained situational awareness, I would not have been injured.
Great video man. As an aviation nerd, I love that you brought task saturation into the equation. Which, if you do have a team, would lead to the importance of CRM, crew resource management.
Great job guys. This applies to all of us, veterans and novice chasers alike, we are all vulnerable to things getting out of control should we violate too many safety practices, intentionally or not.
This is fascinating. I know nothing about storm chasing- but everything about safety. It's always fascinating to see niche dangerous hobbies developing their own safety cultures. I think you can compare/contrast with mountaineering, which is very individualistic and less predictable causes of accidents - but also with underwater cave diving, with strict rules, predictable accident vectors, and a strong sense of cooperation.
Storm chasers are good people. A lot people think it is about thrill seeking. But these people contribute to study and research that can in the future save more lives, and if they see a house hit by a tornado in front of them they go in to the house that was hit or just outside of it if it’s too unsafe to go in and see if anyone is hurt. The team then calls for help and stay there until first responder help arrives. I never fully realized what chasers really do. But after binging on storm chaser videos now I know. And I am thankful for them.
I got hit by a weak ef1 on August 6th this year during an MCS event. I was properly positioned for a tornado to my north that was tracking South/Southeast but since it was an MCS I ended up driving into a second rain wrapped tornado that was tracking East. Thankfully both tornadoes were low end Ef1s that were only 20-25 mph faster than the gust front associated with the storms.
Great video, you hit on essential points that are also very good for any life situation. Be aware of everything, and when you are doing something dangerous (even seemingly non-dangerous) be as knowledgeable as possible about the topic you're dealing with and plan ahead.
Very Well put together video. Love the way you present the information. And TBH I’m not sure why you don’t have more subs. You definitely deserve to be a bigger channel. Good luck in the future!
Thank you - this is much needed in the practice of tornado spotting. Not to mention, vehicles shouldn’t be your typical sedan. Tornado spotters should always have a roll cage with three point harness in case the vehicle is rolled by the storm. A rally car configuration would be much safer than your typical sedan. This isn’t even considering possible additional safety measures such as helmets, kevlar suits (similar to racing / biking suits, not necessarily referring to bullet proofing), and the use of checklists / guidelines similar to piloting. Piloting rules such as “aviate / navigate / communicate” and proper CRM should be adopted for tornado spotting. Your video is a good start but even 10 points are too many to keep track.
Very insightful, however you overlooked 1 critical point (or bullet): The vehicle. You need a strong and FAST vehicle to get yourself out of situations. There's a reason why Reed Timmer upgraded a vehicle 3 times to make it as tornado proof as possible. Driving your mom's Volkswagen Polo is not what should be used in storm chasing. A pick up truck, or large/stong vehicle with a powerful acceleration, preferably with fiberglass windows is the difference that could save someone's life.
Well this is a nice primer, for any amateur chaser. There is an eleventh bullet: The "Stupid Check!!!" When chasing Tornados, every few moments look around and make sure you aren't inadvertently wedged between the main funnel and a forming/ developing satellite vortex that you don't see coming up behind you!!!
I live in Temple TX and on May 24th 2024 two tornadoes hit an EF1 and an EF2. Mind you this is nothing compared to these tornadoes but I HAVE NEVER BEEN THROUGH A STORM LIKE THAT. The Fear that I couldn’t see anything and didn’t know how close or far it was has actually caused me to have Mental issues. The Winds, The Sounds all of it! People have criticized me bc I said next year if I even think a storm is coming that will be bad. I’m getting in my car and heading towards Austin. This is the worst part. I have a weather app. Not one time did I get any ALERTS!! NONE IT WASN’T until I heard the sirens going off did it dawn on me this is real. What is so strange was just how calm it was. Very humid, quiet and still. Overcast and gray. But Temple did a fantastic job of giving us 15 minutes heads up. I’ll never go through that again. I think was scared me the most is I couldn’t SEE ANYTHING. Bc of where my neighborhood is at. Also something I learned the hard way. NO RECEPTION. NOTHING. If I had an emergency I couldn’t call anyone. Watching these videos helps me to learn about what I fear the most. I feel like the more I learn about them maybe the less I’ll fear them.
Knowledge is power. My first terrifying tornado ecoerience happened when I was 6 or 7 yrs old. Had to leave a movie because power went out. When we went to our car we could see funnel cloud bearing down on the city as it descended. Clouds were green. All was calm but air was just sticky and my dad shoved mom, sister, and me into the car and sped to the phone company where he worked and we all took shelter in the basement. My entire body started to shake. I couldn’t even cry. Mom said I was white as a ghost. After that, I started learning as much as I could about tornadoes. Now I only fear when I have no advance information on what the weather is doing. I’m not a chaser, but would love to ride with an experienced one sometime. Tornadoes fascinate me now. As well as tbe use of new technology to learn more about them.
@@jcvtr Exactly. Knowledge Is Power. Still Though. I may believe “Oh it’s bad weather, Temple will probably only produce and EF1 or EF2…Yeah like the old saying goes…Famous Last words of a fool
@@jcvtr Ahh Yes. I’ve heard of others say something about the “Green Color” I’ve never seen it but sounds very interesting. I just can’t though!! I live in Austin all of My Life! I never heard a damn siren before! We had Bad storms but Not like Here! When I started my research into Tornadoes…Then it All Made sense. The Flat Lands out here, mixed with the gulf and the dry air from the mountains 🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️ I’m Like Ohhh Helllll Nooooo
@@jcvtr My Father Says “Ohh God, you probably won’t have another issue like last year in May of 2024” I told Him..”Do You think I care of what might or might not happen? Hell No! I’m going to be Prepared!”
Honestly, if I go a-chasin'... I'm building a Twister-Tank. Buying a surplus MRAP, or HMMWV, armoring it, and making it so it can't get flipped or lifted easily.
I am generally a stone's throw from rolling fork. Just passed through recently. It's... it's beautiful, their resilience and alacrity in recovery. Rolling fork amazes me.
One of the most beautiful things about a devastating tornado is the way communities come together to help each other deal with the aftermath. Always reminds me there IS still some good left in humanity in spite of how far we’ve fallen.
@@jcvtr Important to note: it's not so much that we've fallen, but that we've given the worst of the worst a voice, and chosen to listen to them for some inexplicable reason. Let's make a decision to once again shun the most crazy and/or most stupid and I think goodness will return to the forefront
This is a well thought out and very helpful video on being safe while tornado chasing...it did raise a chuckle though at the end with you wearing a t shirt with 'die trying' on the back lol
2:54 Also referred to as the 'hook echo', for those wondering. 14:10 The 'inflow tail' is often referred to as 'dragon's tail', especially in certain languages/cultures. 29:30 If it carries electrical charge, it's fatally perilous when weather/geological event damaged. ... Tornadoes are...a marvel. Like an assassin that never gets caught. Bad analogy? Maybe; I'm running on mostly caffeine as I type this.
I am beginning my storm chasing career. I have been preparing for the 2025 storm season after a few local chases this year. I have watched this video twice as well as countless others on the danger of being close to these storms. Thank you for your hard work. It is appreciated by a lot of people, including myself. Another thing I noticed. The clips of you and your friend chasing throughout the video, I noticed the car was a stick shift. My first chase was with a stick shift as well!
Good luck out there keep educating yourself it's the best way to go about it learn learn I keep learning myself after 12 plus years of chasing Stick shift is the way to go I was in the car community before I became a chaser there's way more control with a stick if you know how to drive it
There's one more "worst case scenario" video I'd recommend watching before you start chasing: Daniel Shaw's El Reno video. Getting rear ended by a semi before the tornado hit saved his life.
I did some tornado chasing in my state of southern Minnesota several years ago and always made sure I was at least a half mile ahead of the 3 tornadoes I saw. I made sure there were roads going east or south east, because in MN its rare for a tornado to go any other direction but east and at times east/North East. There have been a few that have gone north/north east but not many.
I feel like even if you don’t storm chase this is very useful info for if you get caught traveling in a storm , which has happened to me numerous times.
I don’t chase Tornadoes but this is something I think can be helpful. I didn’t know that there is a little pocket where tornadoes are more likely to form. Thats something I think is quite helpful to know to help identify if you are driving in a risky area and roughly what direction to book it if you are stuck to a vehicle.
I was VERY into storm chasing when I was younger. Only tornado I’ve actually even seen in person was in Louisville KY in 2005. It was a little nothing storm that broke some windows and damaged some cars. Accidentally found myself watching the footage of the last couple minutes from inside the Twistex vehicle in a documentary about the El Reno event. It’s not graphic but it’s haunting and horrible and it seriously put me off of chasing. Im happy sticking to videos on RUclips now.
Not sure if you say it in the video as I’m typing this as soon as I saw it, but that first clip is someone I watch, high risk chris. Insane video to watch. Fortunately he got out alive that day.
If I remember correctly, he was chasing in Illinois that day
@@JasonMartin915 correct , crazy video
@@JasonMartin915i live in illinois also that was a few days after march 31 1 mile away from me a tornado
I don't like Chris due to him accepting shady sponsorships, but I also don't like it when videos don't credit the people whose clips they have taken.
@garden_creature but he did credit him. Read the description box.
It's wild that if you show me just that slug shaped blob I'll recognize it as El Reno.
I know that track better than I know my grandmother
@@BradLacke 😂😂😂😂😂
@@BradLacke
@@BradLacke fuckin same
The El Reno guy was a looter as well as a chaser. I have friends who knew him. The game was "who gets there first gets the goodies." Oh well.
As I was listening to your bullet about maintaining situational awareness, I was like, “ Ok, but how…”, and you made your real point here: if you think you’ve lost SA, get out of dodge! That at least should be easy to do.
It’s easy to forget, but there are lots of very distracting things doing their best to distract you during a tornado, haha
@@scifisykohence bullet 6 lol
It would be really cool if someone made a storm chasing simulator. Just get a giant world map like flight simulator did. Put you in a little driving simulator inside of that world. And then just generate weather based off of existing historical storm data and let people "try" to chase a storm or drop some intercept equipment in the path. I I think it could be relatively easy to make, but also really awesome
They kinda already have it. On Roblox. Called Twisted. The map is a lot smaller, I guess about the size of a small county but you can actually probe and intercept in it.
Yeah that game is very realstic. I plsyed it for over a year@@thetougecedia
It would not be easy to make at a world map scale or making the physics semi realistic. You would need the budget of Microsoft and a ton of developers and many many years of time.
There are two games on Steam that are exactly what you are talking about. The first one is called Storm Chasers. It’s been out for a while and is in early access. A more recent release is a game called OUTBRK. You play as a storm chaser on a huge open world map. Taking photos and placing probes for data. Both games have similar approaches to the concept.
This already exists. On steam there’s a storm chasing game called OUTBRK which released in early access a few months ago. You need a pretty decent PC, but it’s quite well made
Chasing has come a LONG way from back in the 1970s. My husband did some volunteer chasing for University of Oklahoma's Weather Research Center when they were working on calibrating the Doppler radars for tornadoes. Back then, it was CB radios, a clip board for notes and observations, a map you could pick up at the corner store, and binoculars. He knew what tornadoes did, growing up in Oklahoma, and where to stay safe. But it was radio in with the report, "I see where it should be, it's out here somewhere close, on a dirt road outside OKC, I can hear it but it's in the rain...." He graduated OU in 1978 and he loves watching the chases now and would love to go, but he's in his late 60s and as he said, I have no business chasing my Sheltie, never mind a tornado."
And, those rules you have make perfect sense. I hope chasers memorize that stuff.
The ones who actually read all that😂😂😂😂😂😂
I would love to be able to chase way back then of course that was before my time I'm afraid the new movie that came out is going to make things way worse a bunch of people are going to suddenly call themselves storm chasers without training or education
@@ragestorms1942What training do you think storm chasers receive today?
@@acr08807 as far as I'm aware of there is no actual training course available it's pretty much self-taught I learned a lot by watching RUclips videos Skip Talbot is excellent but it takes a lot you got to be a good driver you have to know how to use cameras radar you have to know the storm visually so that you're safe you cannot rely on radar you have to learn how to forecast weather and that's the basics
@@acr08807 I'm not aware of any training classes or anything like that fortunately it's pretty much self-talk I learned a lot by watching RUclips videos Skip Talbot is one of the best in this before anybody goes out chasing a tornado they should be or have a good driver know how to use radar no their camera very well know they're visual cues how to recognize a storms parts and what they do because you cannot rely on a radar basic forecasting and probably some basic first aid at least this is just kind of a minimum to do things safely off the top of my head
Thank you for mentioning the Lawrence KS storm in 2019. I was working the front desk of a hotel in Topeka, not too far down the road from the tornado. That tour group (Silver Linings) came into the hotel for the night; they all looked like they’d been through hell. The tour managers were shaken. Roger Hill (tour leader) had cuts and scrapes all over his face and arms. They were incredibly lucky. I’m definitely referencing this video in the future!
I didn't realize that was Silver Linings, with THE Roger Hill. Guy's a legend, especially in photography. Dang, that good insurance he has took a hit.
I had NEVER been more grateful that my college Haskell refused to take my tuition money that they had in their possession since before spring break 2018 that I couldn’t go back the next year. I’m mad that they kept me from continuing college but I’m glad I couldn’t go back to Lawrence. I have a really bad tornado phobia
@@windwatcher11rodger hill isn't a legend he's a moron that doesn't know what he's doing he gets way to close to tornados he doesn't deserve to be a storm chaser
@@windwatcher11Rodger Hill isn't a legend he gets way to close to the tornados and has no regard for the people he takes on tours
@sweetwolfsteve5583 It's odd, it didn't used to be this way, especially with tour groups, and Roger's was one of the safer tours out there. The culture has changed.
The reason it is blowing up in population is because all the kids who grew up watching "storm chasers" on TV are now becoming adults.
Source: I was that kid. I still hold that interest and have gone several times but am using my in-progress aerospace degree to make a device I hope to distribute to storm chasers to gather data on tornadoes themselves in a safer manner than normal.
What stuck with me the most about that show is how much effort was put into making their cars capable of surviving a tornado.
I distinctly remember how 1 car had essentially lake stakes that would stab into the ground to anchor the vehicle, and the other car had hydrolics to lower itself and maybe a skirt. The point of both of those was to avoid getting rolled or lifted.
I'm not sure what other modifications they had, but i would consider a rollcage very reasonable.
And while its good that people are inspired to be part of the profession, there is a difference between a professional with reasonable preparations, and an amateur making poor life choices in a stock prius, or worse van/truck.
Very good theory. I also credit the widespread knowledge of climate change for keeping weather events in the front of our collective consciousness.
thank you for your work man
BRUH we need to see you making this device! I just subscribed. Very excited for your journey
And Twister.
Another great example for Bullet 7 of dead end roads is the Bowdle SD tornado of 2010, around a dozen or so chasers went down a dirt road and it just ended even thought the online maps showed it didnt, the chasers decided to go off road into a field as a last resort to where they would get suck in mud as tornado vortices pass 40~ feet away from some chase vehicles
I was there. Apple maps error.
Could have killed many great people.
@@jther7542
Never use apple maps, use satellite images to see the actual road.
ipswich gang 👊
@@jther7542 The trouble with maps (digital or paper) is that they have deliberate falsehoods in order to catch copying. This is actually more of a problem for storm chasers than the average user, as these errors are typically placed in the countryside where less people are likely to run into them.
@@jther7542 LOL apple maps. Anyone who uses apple maps deserves it.
If it’s not mentioned already, I would add that it’s probably better to chase with someone else in the car, rather than doing it alone. One person drives, one person navigates and interprets the data.
Edit: nvm he mentioned it 😅
Still a great point
I'd add, it better to chase in someone else's car too....
All of this requires being associated with another person though. easier said than done 😔
@@commiehunter733 Or single-handily raise auto insurance rates by renting cars and intentionally destroying them for views like one very popular tornado chaser.
I rather enjoy rereading the information that was already present in the video, it sorta helps cement it into my memory, thank you c:
Tried this and got cored by a wedge. Incredible experience 10/10 recommend
💀
just say no.
The tornado cannot legally toss you around if you do not give consent
@@somefnafenjoyer what if it was a pedo
I'm sure the physical graphics take a lot of time but I love them. Unique but not distracting. It's so fun to watch your channel grow since the Parkersburg video. :)
Fantastic video. This almost feels like an updated version of Skip Talbot's video from a few years back, and I think all of these points are absolutely worth that update!
I agree. It’s very telling that Ethan pulls a lot of the same points that Skip has covered, especially in his Pilger, El Reno series, Lone Star, and Lewistown videos. Skip is great at going into details and insights, and Ethan is great at condensing those messages into succinct points
As always watching this I was thinking somebody has been watching Skip's videos I admire Skip a lot and even got to shake his hand at a convention watching his videos has really taught me a lot
Interesting thing about using the photo of the Greenfield tornado - I'm sure it's not only an example of the "ghost train", but also another direct example of "the visible tornado is not the whole tornado". In videos you can see that a wind turbine well out to the side of the funnel and not in the rear inflow jet is crumpled, which Tim Marshall estimates to require wind speeds of 120-140mph (as a sneak peek of the updated EF scale). You can also see on the damage survey map that the damage indicators to EF2 are quite widely spaced.
Thank you for making this video. As a child I was haunted by nightmares about tornadoes chasing and killing me and my family, ruining everything. I was traumatized. As a result, I vowed to return the favor. Before I die I will chase a tornado. I've studied extreme weather throughout all my school years as a hobby and while I could stand to be a bit more informed, I am still determined nonetheless.
Don't let your fears hold you back.
Edit: sorry, got a little too into it. Forgot my original purpose for leaving this comment. When I go storm chasing, I'm gonna have your bullets on a list for all parties involved!
The El Reno tornado, like others that behaved similarily, acted like a low-pressure system. In this case, like what you see with it diving SE through the Rockies. Then it turns NE, following the trough, and undergoes cyclogenesis, before turning back to the east, and eventually dying. Tornadoes never fail to amuse me, because of their unique behavior. Also why I keep studying. Thank you very much for making this video!
Twisted really revived the worst out of all the chasers back in the day rest in peace
So did the Greensburg tornado and the following three mile wide Teousdale tornadoes. Radar was able to pick up their vortex holes for the first time in history. They are actually called tornado cyclones .
@JustinLHopkins @JustinLHopkins A more recent example is the Robert Lee, TX tornado. Had the hole on radar for some time!
@@weathermanofthenorth1547 Wow, thanks for letting me know. I’ll check it out right now.
@@weathermanofthenorth1547 Are you a meteorologist or an enthusiast?
I feel like ‘Twister’ nailed it in terms of showing you always need a map guy. Roll the maps
No, you just need a Bill and his instincts 😂
Yep. You don't want a big crease through Wichita.
I prefer maps in book form, rolled maps you have to hold open
Rabbit is good. Rabbit is wise.
Also, for 19:05 - A great example of task saturation is Eastern Airlines 401. A plane that crashed in the Florida Everglades because the pilots got distracted by a defective landing gear light bulb. During troubleshooting attempts, the captain unknowingly nudged the control column, taking the plane out of its horizontal altitude hold from there the plane slowly lost its remaining altitude until it crashed.
Ah yes, then they used parts from it on other planes and ghosts were reported for years afterwards. 😅
From a safety standpoint and I don’t know if this is still the case for you, but don’t mount your phone on your dash for storm chasing. Get an iPad and mount that, then hotspot it using your phone’s connection. First of all, you don’t have to squint as much/you’ll see a great storm area - but more importantly, your phone should be on your person in case of an emergency. You might even prevent neck/tension related injuries.
What an awesome and insightful video. June First is the future of storm chasing videos !
100%!
Completly true
True
Didn't expect you here
NO WAY ITS HIM
Such an amazing video man. Every storm chaser should watch the full length of this video. Even me myself, after chasing so much over 2 years, learned alot. Well done :)
It is indeed not June First but this man is still here🔥
I can appreciate what you're trying to do in this video helping others be safe in their passion chasing. I would however correct some information related to the SLT incident. That day we actually turned south away from the main meso (after being parked and watching it) which ended up producing the stronger tornado that hit Linwood/Lawrence area, at the time it was not on the ground. As we went south a smaller tornado was embedded in the RFD and hadn't appeared on the radar scan until we were getting hit. We have pushed through RFD plenty of times when leaving a main circulation and this time unfortunately we crossed paths with a handoff tornado. It was rare, and lots of people miss our perspective on this. We did however change our policy on distance from High Precip supercells especially in a commercial environment. Hope that helps.
This will make for a very, very great learning tool , and every chaser out there should watch over and over. As well as every person who wants to become a chaser. Thank you for creating this
11:04 with that incident there was actually a storm chasing crew just ahead of them that actually did manage to escape, and they picked up on the radio the words "we're gonna to die, we're gonna die" and people have come to the possible conclusion they picked up twistx's true final words that were not able to broadcast due to the tornado and they only picked it up cuz they were close enough.
That’s sad 😔
There was a guy just ahead of them got footage with a rear dashcam of the TwistX team's car's lights being swallowed by the tornado. But the person who heard someone screaming "We're gunna die" over the radio was a nearby cop.
@@pigeonbusiness oh, well I was close.
I feel like you should tag Celton Henderson, who made a video pretty openly flaunting the fact that he didn't make some very basic safety decisions and treated it as though it was some heroic endeavor. I like Celton a lot, but I thought his framing was honestly a pretty poor choice. Great work, this really builds a lot on work that Skip Talbot's done. Fantastic work.
Celton and I are good friends!
@@junefirst Is Celton the chase that was trapped by fallen live power lines an in the Lewistown, IL tornado? Or was that another team. I remember seeing footage of it but can't remember exactly who it was.
@@hollymccormack4081 That was Tanner Charles and company, not Celton Henderson.
@@junefirst Ah, thanks! It was a very dramatic video they had.
@@junefirst Thanks!
Its crazy just how much information you need to take in to stay safe.
Never, ever center punch! That is, approach the tornado from the left (usually north) side of the supercell. Did that once (in my brand new car - this was almost 50 yrs ago) and luckily the large hail made me stop and pull under a gas station canopy. Had I proceeded 1/4 mile further, I would have drove smack into it.
This was the maneuver the Weather Channel chasers attempted during the El Reno tornado with devastating results.
Good information. I've never thought of it in terms of bullet points or a checklist, but this is the stuff I keep in the back of my head any time I'm going to be out on the road in bad weather during the Spring in Oklahoma. I don't chase storms, but I was driving back from visiting my mom in Texas back in May of 2024 behind a supercell that spawned several weak tornadoes in Oklahoma City. My husband and adult daughter were in our storm shelter at home, kinda freaking out because I was literally following the storm into town.
I had checked radar and knew it was going to get bad before I made it to Norman much less home to OKC, and had purposefully slowed my progress so the storm would stay North of me no matter when it progressed East, specifically because I didn't want to end up anywhere near the notch at night. Once I was back on the road, I was listening solely to chasers with eyes on it a lot closer than I was tracking exactly when tornadoes came down, where, and which way they were moving, basically with a constant running map of the area in my head so I had several different ways to escape if any of them decided to really get crazy and turn into a giant wedge and start spitting out sub-vortices or doing loops like the 2013 El Reno tornado did.
I worked on 19th st in Moore and the May 20th, 2013 EF5 missed where I was by about 2 blocks and flattened the neighborhoods right behind us (where I worked is a Sam's Club now, but it was Convergys back then), and having come out in what was essentially ground zero and seeing what was left of places I drove by every day and suddenly not having any visual landmarks of what was around me other than the few buildings around that hadn't been hit was very sobering. South of us looked normal, but everything else was just...like an alternate universe or something.
First time we drove through Joplin after “the big one” destroyed the city it was disorienting having no landmarks anymore. You don’t realize how much you rely on the landscape until it’s all gone.
NOAA had storm spotter meetings once a year when I was growing up in the 90’s. Nextrad was brand new then, and nobody but the folks in the movie twister had radar on the road.
They described a difference between storm chasers like in that newly released movie, and trained storm spotters.
Spotters will keep a safe distance, and report what they see with details including where they are.
The country radio station KFDI near Wichita Ks, with their spotters on the road is a great example of the best at their job at the time.
The main reason for staying a safe distance, is so you can see everything. If you are in the debris cloud, you are in the tornado. No matter how small it appears. You can’t help anyone when you are in the tornado and you can’t see Jack.
Trying to chase it 10 or 20 miles down dirt roads and two lane hw’s for a slightly better view, only puts everyone on the road at risk. Including first responders.
The amount of oil on roads will have not had a chance to rinse away, and keel clay is slick as snot when crushed into pavement from a crossing dirt road.
This was also a time when they rarely sounded tornado sirens with just radar signatures alone. They often waited for a confirmed sighting for the warning. So chances were good if you were relying on a siren, you were 15 min too late. You had to watch the sky and know what you were seeing.
NOAA never would have wanted anyone to linger or travel into the notch.
Call me old, but as a kid from the 90’s. I cringe when I see chasers in the debris cloud. If craps flying that can hurt you or break a side window. Then you are too close and you need to high tail it out of there, or take immediate shelter.
Your chances of being a call that first responders have to handle, goes up significantly. Mistakes happen. Some tragedies can’t be avoided when all the holes in the Swiss cheese line up. But to risk it intentionally? Don’t be that guy.
Great job Ethan. I've taken several storm spotter classes throughout the years and while I learned stuff in those I feel like I learned more just in this one video. Thank you
Amazing Quality Chaser Safety Video !
I wanna mention a Chase you have missed is the May 4th 2022 Crowell /Lockett Tornado. When Tourgroup Cloud 9 got hit by the Backside RFD from the Tornado, when all Windows blew out and hurt some Passengers. But nobody got seriously hurt.
For El Reno the case what happened to Daniel Shaw is also a Warning , that you should never Underestimate the Beast and trust the Radar to much. He was dam lucky getting hit by Truck that forced him the stop and survived behind the Canopy of it.
I was a passenger on cloud 9 that night , our radar. Updates were 20 min old , we lost signal , we were heading to our hotel in Wichita falls
[11:45] Couldn't help but chuckle at the comedic, albeit dark irony behind the choice of attire for that shot when considering the topic of this video. 👍
That being said, this was another phenomenal presentation, Ethan. Really appreciate the time and effort you put into these projects. Not to mention, your video editing continues to get better with each and every upload. Don't think we aren't noticing! Thanks for sharing, as always. Please, keep up the amazing work, my friend!
Damn! This is an excellent video! I loved how detailed it was while also being engaging and informative. You deserve way more subscribers for high quality content like this! I look forward to future videos :)
hell yeah, best dinner with youtube night ever
😂😂
Bridges out: I can't tell you how many times I've been on a dirt or low grade road during a warning (more or less any generic point setting up during a chase) and had that road run into a bridge that's being rebuilt with no warning until you're right there. Once, I even had to risk crossing over the raw dirt between me and a creek where a bridge was getting rebuilt just to save my hide. Google Maps does not tell you when these are out. Tons of companies have taken advantage of the >50% of bridges - on pavement and off - that have any issue of structural integrity with them, and if one's out, you can bet one near it will be the next year.
Dude this is a great video; it summarizes so many key points in chasing safety! These are all vital aspects to keep in mind. Hopefully, chasers will keep these ten bullets in mind through the years ahead, and avoid accidents like some of these!
Great video, super informative with easy to understand visuals.
Well done. I would also note that some of your best shots of a storm are sitting back and not being on top of it. This current idea of trying to get as close as possible is too risky.
Personally i would try and get a good RC plane set up for the close-ups. And that would allow the car doing the more traditional chase to stay farther back and in safer positions.
While it would be more expensive to get a "drone" (plane not quad copter) with the required speed range, flight time, and camera mounting hardware. If the drone gets hit by the tornado you are only out a drone, not your car and life. (It would also probably need to be a fueled plane and not an electric one)
Although I'm sure even a relatively cheap drone with a good enough control range would be useful.
@jasonreed7522 well also with that if it livestreams the data then you don't loose any footage but a bunch of the fueled ones are fast
@@deadshot4245 exactly, with constant live telemetry you won't lose any data if the drone is destroyed. And a fueled one should be fast enough to keep up with the storm, and may even be able to make headway even in the stonger winds around a tornado.
Fundamentally the concept is just like "probes" in Star Trek, except in the show they basically treat them as single use items, and IRL you wouldn't want a new drone after every chase.
@@jasonreed7522 no you save it for the right condition to do. if you could have one with bomb doors that can drop probes in as a delivery vehicle that can fly in front of the storm in the notch and drop probes from multiple altitudes and RTB then golden the key is not to destroy it but to make it a safe way to deploy smaller probes in
I remember there being a show around 2008 about professional storm chasers. Something that was emphasized was that their cars were not stock, 1 had anchors/stakes and the other had a skirt and hydrologics to drop down and prevent air from lifting up from below. I believe they also had bulletproof glass and other reinforcements.
Bullet point 11 should be "know your vehicle", a stock anything isn't tanking a tornado, especially not a high profile vehicle like a truck or van.
im glad i now know how to not get hit by a tornado, thanks for informing me, ill try not to get hit again
I came across this video wanting to know the goods and the bands of the storm chasing, you made this well explained and well thought, thank you for this video subbed
Reminds me a little of the storm chasing handbook. But with some important details missing.
I have my copy still. It follows me on every chase as there is still important information that can be useful to any chaser.
An excellent video and a positive message for all severe weather enthusiasts and storm chasers.
This is very well done sir. Will the advice be heeded? Only time will tell. For starters anyone choosing to chase in darkness might want to re-evaluate their life choices. Depending/counting on radar refresh, random transformers blowing and/or sporadic lightning for your view of the storm is a supremely BAD idea. Thanks very much.
As a Nevadan, I find this incredibly helpful.
Great video June First. RIP to the fallen chasers and condolences to their families.
IX Can add: the tornado is further away than you think it is - but it is moving way, way faster than you think it is. BTW, Greenfield was completely uncondensed at the first of its life; you could only see it from its debris and rear inflow jet ("ghost train"). I've even caught long-time professional chasers saying they won't confirm anything unless they're close enough to see debris or full condensation. Thats' fine for personal goals, but dangerous for personal safety.
Awesome video, man! I feel like every chaser should see this and it should be a part of the official NWS Skywarn spotter training! Another thing that I think is VERY important is overall storm motion. This season, we have gotten LOTS of southeast moving storms where I live. This causes the core to be on the SE side, and the mesocyclone (given a supercellular mode), to be on the NW side. This is completely opposite of where these features are on a typical NE moving storm. If you position just to the SE of the storm, which is considered the "safe" spot for NE movers, you are putting yourself DIRECTLY IN THE PATH of a SE mover.
To add on to that, the variety of storm modes, and how you can have mixed modes! Where I live in SE Iowa, it is very rare to get "textbook" supercells with "textbook" radar echos. Most of the time, they are high precipitation and/or embedded in a multi-cell or a squall line here. This past June we got a MONSTER multi-cell made up of several embedded supercells, a few of which produced confirmed tornadoes. AND... it was a SE mover! I got many great shots of a visibly rotating and lowering wall cloud on the NORTH side of the storm. 😁 This whole 2024 season has been a crazy season of unusual storm modes and BIG tornadoes!
Great video. Great info. I’ve loved storms since I was a kid. I’ve always wanted to go chasing. I was just talking to a friend about it last night and she wants to go with me. But I told her that while I’ve learned a lot about radar and navigation, I don’t have the real world experience to do it alone or with another inexperienced person. Plus u have the fact that the big tornado possible days are going to have hundreds of other vehicles clogging up the roadways. I just sent her the video so we’ll see how excited she is after viewing it. But again, great video!
Be careful out there and stay safe!
This video is awesome! I've been chasing storms for many, many years and you nailed everything that I had questions about. Great video and I pray that future storm chasers find this video you made. Stay safe and chase on!
Great video! Especially those few points about mindset and whats lining the road. Ive aborted many tornado intercepts because of trees ahead being in RFD winds.
This is a very interesting video. I hope that every storm chaser now and for years to come watches it!
Enough cannot be said about situational awareness! It is an important skill to learn and have across many different disciplines. In my discipline, I lost situational awareness just for a brief few seconds and ended up with a severely broken leg on February 23rd.. It took the installation of a plate and seven screws to fix it. Had I maintained situational awareness, I would not have been injured.
This is insanely well edited and presented.
june first back at it with another banger, the editing has gotten a lot better since i started watching you, good job man!
I genuinely respect your work. I'm subscribing.
EXCELLENT video. Very informative & spells it out quite nicely. I love the diagram of the clouds & the features to look for.
Another banger. Love you, Mr. Moriarty!
Great video man. As an aviation nerd, I love that you brought task saturation into the equation. Which, if you do have a team, would lead to the importance of CRM, crew resource management.
This is an awesome video. I will be rewatching as well as sharing this for a while. 🔥🤘
Great job guys. This applies to all of us, veterans and novice chasers alike, we are all vulnerable to things getting out of control should we violate too many safety practices, intentionally or not.
This is fascinating. I know nothing about storm chasing- but everything about safety. It's always fascinating to see niche dangerous hobbies developing their own safety cultures. I think you can compare/contrast with mountaineering, which is very individualistic and less predictable causes of accidents - but also with underwater cave diving, with strict rules, predictable accident vectors, and a strong sense of cooperation.
Wonderfully put together. Full of respect, while being able to teach safety than could very well save the lives of those you care about the most.
What an excellent video! Wish I had seen this earlier in my storm chasing career (most notably for the May 6th high risk chase)
Storm chasers are good people. A lot people think it is about thrill seeking. But these people contribute to study and research that can in the future save more lives, and if they see a house hit by a tornado in front of them they go in to the house that was hit or just outside of it if it’s too unsafe to go in and see if anyone is hurt. The team then calls for help and stay there until first responder help arrives. I never fully realized what chasers really do. But after binging on storm chaser videos now I know. And I am thankful for them.
I got hit by a weak ef1 on August 6th this year during an MCS event. I was properly positioned for a tornado to my north that was tracking South/Southeast but since it was an MCS I ended up driving into a second rain wrapped tornado that was tracking East. Thankfully both tornadoes were low end Ef1s that were only 20-25 mph faster than the gust front associated with the storms.
I really liked the video format, and it was so informative! Great job!
Great video, you hit on essential points that are also very good for any life situation. Be aware of everything, and when you are doing something dangerous (even seemingly non-dangerous) be as knowledgeable as possible about the topic you're dealing with and plan ahead.
Great video and a wonderful resource. Great work!!
Great job on the production and presenting of this information. Hopefully, this will be a great reminder for those in the chase.
This doesn’t get talked about enough. Great video man!
Wise advice and I love how you incorporated a little shooting in there.
Very Well put together video. Love the way you present the information. And TBH I’m not sure why you don’t have more subs. You definitely deserve to be a bigger channel. Good luck in the future!
Love watching your videos. You seem to put a lot of hard work into your videos. And might I say, you do a job well done! 😊
Thank you - this is much needed in the practice of tornado spotting.
Not to mention, vehicles shouldn’t be your typical sedan. Tornado spotters should always have a roll cage with three point harness in case the vehicle is rolled by the storm. A rally car configuration would be much safer than your typical sedan. This isn’t even considering possible additional safety measures such as helmets, kevlar suits (similar to racing / biking suits, not necessarily referring to bullet proofing), and the use of checklists / guidelines similar to piloting.
Piloting rules such as “aviate / navigate / communicate” and proper CRM should be adopted for tornado spotting. Your video is a good start but even 10 points are too many to keep track.
This video will likely save hundreds of chaser’s lives! Amazing video!!!
Very insightful, however you overlooked 1 critical point (or bullet): The vehicle.
You need a strong and FAST vehicle to get yourself out of situations. There's a reason why Reed Timmer upgraded a vehicle 3 times to make it as tornado proof as possible. Driving your mom's Volkswagen Polo is not what should be used in storm chasing. A pick up truck, or large/stong vehicle with a powerful acceleration, preferably with fiberglass windows is the difference that could save someone's life.
Nice presentation, good job!
5:22 I was NOT expecting that deep base voice. If your voice had a face it would look like Brad Pitt
Well this is a nice primer, for any amateur chaser. There is an eleventh bullet: The "Stupid Check!!!" When chasing Tornados, every few moments look around and make sure you aren't inadvertently wedged between the main funnel and a forming/ developing satellite vortex that you don't see coming up behind you!!!
This will help me do my future job of chasing. Thank you.
I live in Temple TX and on May 24th 2024 two tornadoes hit an EF1 and an EF2. Mind you this is nothing compared to these tornadoes but I HAVE NEVER BEEN THROUGH A STORM LIKE THAT. The Fear that I couldn’t see anything and didn’t know how close or far it was has actually caused me to have Mental issues. The Winds, The Sounds all of it! People have criticized me bc I said next year if I even think a storm is coming that will be bad. I’m getting in my car and heading towards Austin. This is the worst part. I have a weather app. Not one time did I get any ALERTS!! NONE IT WASN’T until I heard the sirens going off did it dawn on me this is real. What is so strange was just how calm it was. Very humid, quiet and still. Overcast and gray. But Temple did a fantastic job of giving us 15 minutes heads up. I’ll never go through that again. I think was scared me the most is I couldn’t SEE ANYTHING. Bc of where my neighborhood is at. Also something I learned the hard way. NO RECEPTION. NOTHING. If I had an emergency I couldn’t call anyone. Watching these videos helps me to learn about what I fear the most. I feel like the more I learn about them maybe the less I’ll fear them.
Knowledge is power. My first terrifying tornado ecoerience happened when I was 6 or 7 yrs old. Had to leave a movie because power went out. When we went to our car we could see funnel cloud bearing down on the city as it descended. Clouds were green. All was calm but air was just sticky and my dad shoved mom, sister, and me into the car and sped to the phone company where he worked and we all took shelter in the basement. My entire body started to shake. I couldn’t even cry. Mom said I was white as a ghost. After that, I started learning as much as I could about tornadoes. Now I only fear when I have no advance information on what the weather is doing. I’m not a chaser, but would love to ride with an experienced one sometime. Tornadoes fascinate me now. As well as tbe use of new technology to learn more about them.
@@jcvtr Exactly. Knowledge Is Power. Still Though. I may believe “Oh it’s bad weather, Temple will probably only produce and EF1 or EF2…Yeah like the old saying goes…Famous Last words of a fool
@@jcvtr I WILL BE GONE! Gone Faster than a Blink of an Eye! Get me a nice cozy Motel room close to Austin. Good to go
@@jcvtr Ahh Yes. I’ve heard of others say something about the “Green Color” I’ve never seen it but sounds very interesting. I just can’t though!! I live in Austin all of My Life! I never heard a damn siren before! We had Bad storms but Not like Here! When I started my research into Tornadoes…Then it All Made sense. The Flat Lands out here, mixed with the gulf and the dry air from the mountains 🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️ I’m Like Ohhh Helllll Nooooo
@@jcvtr My Father Says “Ohh God, you probably won’t have another issue like last year in May of 2024” I told Him..”Do You think I care of what might or might not happen? Hell No! I’m going to be Prepared!”
Honestly, if I go a-chasin'... I'm building a Twister-Tank. Buying a surplus MRAP, or HMMWV, armoring it, and making it so it can't get flipped or lifted easily.
I am generally a stone's throw from rolling fork. Just passed through recently. It's... it's beautiful, their resilience and alacrity in recovery. Rolling fork amazes me.
One of the most beautiful things about a devastating tornado is the way communities come together to help each other deal with the aftermath. Always reminds me there IS still some good left in humanity in spite of how far we’ve fallen.
@@jcvtr Important to note: it's not so much that we've fallen, but that we've given the worst of the worst a voice, and chosen to listen to them for some inexplicable reason. Let's make a decision to once again shun the most crazy and/or most stupid and I think goodness will return to the forefront
Great work man. Your videos are on point.
Very well done! Thanks for posting. ❤
This is a well thought out and very helpful video on being safe while tornado chasing...it did raise a chuckle though at the end with you wearing a t shirt with 'die trying' on the back lol
27:13 Bullet # IX is easily my favorite because it identifies as XI.
Absolute great Video, which EVERY Storm Chaser should watch ❤❤
2:54 Also referred to as the 'hook echo', for those wondering.
14:10 The 'inflow tail' is often referred to as 'dragon's tail', especially in certain languages/cultures.
29:30 If it carries electrical charge, it's fatally perilous when weather/geological event damaged.
...
Tornadoes are...a marvel. Like an assassin that never gets caught. Bad analogy? Maybe; I'm running on mostly caffeine as I type this.
Your production quality is insane
I am beginning my storm chasing career. I have been preparing for the 2025 storm season after a few local chases this year. I have watched this video twice as well as countless others on the danger of being close to these storms. Thank you for your hard work. It is appreciated by a lot of people, including myself.
Another thing I noticed. The clips of you and your friend chasing throughout the video, I noticed the car was a stick shift. My first chase was with a stick shift as well!
Good luck out there keep educating yourself it's the best way to go about it learn learn I keep learning myself after 12 plus years of chasing
Stick shift is the way to go I was in the car community before I became a chaser there's way more control with a stick if you know how to drive it
There's one more "worst case scenario" video I'd recommend watching before you start chasing: Daniel Shaw's El Reno video. Getting rear ended by a semi before the tornado hit saved his life.
@@DangardsBrain I have watched that! Scary stuff for sure.
I did some tornado chasing in my state of southern Minnesota several years ago and always made sure I was at least a half mile ahead of the 3 tornadoes I saw. I made sure there were roads going east or south east, because in MN its rare for a tornado to go any other direction but east and at times east/North East. There have been a few that have gone north/north east but not many.
Whoa I was not expecting the bassiest voice ever from that dude
I feel like even if you don’t storm chase this is very useful info for if you get caught traveling in a storm , which has happened to me numerous times.
I don’t chase Tornadoes but this is something I think can be helpful.
I didn’t know that there is a little pocket where tornadoes are more likely to form. Thats something I think is quite helpful to know to help identify if you are driving in a risky area and roughly what direction to book it if you are stuck to a vehicle.
I was VERY into storm chasing when I was younger. Only tornado I’ve actually even seen in person was in Louisville KY in 2005. It was a little nothing storm that broke some windows and damaged some cars.
Accidentally found myself watching the footage of the last couple minutes from inside the Twistex vehicle in a documentary about the El Reno event.
It’s not graphic but it’s haunting and horrible and it seriously put me off of chasing. Im happy sticking to videos on RUclips now.
As a Californian who has never and probably will never see a tornado this will prove very useful in my day-to-day life
You’re amazing for this!
Great video. Those tornadoes are definitely worse case scenarios.
This was helpful. Thanks!