Storm chasing

[Indy23]

I wanted to ask this in the weather thread, but didn't want to hijack it and take away from the dangerous storm news.

Royal and other storm chasers, I am curious. I am getting more and more concerned about the number of amateurs that seem to follow dangerous storms around. Storm chasing is always going to be something people are going to do, but it seems like it's being glorified much more lately than in the past, like it's an extreme sport or something.

I guess I hope that these chasers, especially the out-of-town ones, have respect that for the residents in the paths of these storms, it isn't an adrenaline-pumping good time. You know? You see these guys filming somebody's house getting disintegrated, and they are hooping and hollering like it's a rodeo.

And yeah, I think mother nature is as cool and awe-inspiring as the next guy, but I just get the feeling that there are going to be more and more chasers trying to fill up Youtube with tornado footage or trying to be the ones who get the video on the local news, and ultimately someone who doesn't really know what they're doing is going to get themselves or someone else killed.

What do you think? Is it something to be concerned about, or no problem here, there aren't nearly that many chasers, we are out to learn more about the storms and help meteorologists get warnings out, etc.?

[SubGod22]

"You see these guys filming somebody's house getting disintegrated, and they are hooping and hollering like it's a rodeo."

That part has always disturbed me.

Good questions Indy

[RoyalShock]

Here's my take, and your concerns are valid and something the chase community often discusses amongst themselves. And I share the feeling of being disturbed when anyone cheers someone else's loss. That's just plain inhumane.

In most, of the chase videos I've seen, I haven't heard the chasers get excited when property gets damaged, unless it's out of concern. In the video clip I posted in the other thread you can see a house get hit (the debris in the air). As soon as the tornado was off the ground and out of the area our entire group went to check on it. Fortunately, some other chasers were already there and had called it in. We went totally out of concern, not to gawk at the damage. But yeah, I've seen a few of the types of videos you mentioned. Sad.

As with most anything, you will get tha "yahoos" who are ignorant or just plain stupid. They go out without at least basic knowledge of storm structure and movement. They don't drive safely and have a general lack of consideration for others. They give the serious chasers a bad name. A good chaser will always put the public's safety first. Unfortunately, the only way to minimize the "yahoo effect" would be to regulate storm chasing. And that would be virtually impossible to pull off.

The existence of chasers has had a net-positive effect on overall public safety. Along with local spotters, they are often the first ones to call in rotating wall clouds, funnels, tornados and damage to authorities. They can often be the first ones on the scene if damage has occurred (every good chaser should at least have a first-aid kit and be able to administer first-aid). Many chasers offer their video to the NWS for study.

For me personally, I'm not one of the serious chasers who rarely miss an opportunity (though I'm sure my wife would like me to be!). While I've done the study of storm structure, movement, chaser safety and attended storm-spotter meetings, I prefer to be a little further away from the storm or at least in a position where if I'm close, I know I'm not in the path, even if it takes a turn.

So basically, yeah there are some idiots out there. The chaser community is aware of those who are more concerned with getting the "perfect video" or getting theirs sold to The Weather Channel before someone else. And when the "good" chasers spot the "bad" ones, especially if they recognize them, the bad ones do get criticized within the community. So they do try to self-police but beyond peer criticism, there isn't much else they can do. Part of living in a mostly free society is having to put up with the morons. If they break the traffic laws or impede law enforcemen and/or emergency crews, they should suffer the legal consequences.