Storm

Chasers

Social Studies Integrated Unit: 2nd Grade

Emily DeGrange
April, 17 2015

Table of Contents
Rationale ..............................................................................................Page 3
Concept Map .......................................................................................Page 4
Concept Outline .................................................................................Page 5
Language Arts Lesson Plan ..............................................................Page 6
Math Lesson Plan ...............................................................................Page 9
Science Lesson Plan ........................................................................ Page 11
Appendix A (Value Added Articles) .........................................................
Appendix B (Paragraph Hamburger Organizer) .....................................
Appendix C (Storm Chasers Background Info) .....................................

Rationale
This unit uses the exhilarating theme of storm chasers to help integrate
social studies into a science, language arts and math lesson for 2nd grade
students. The work that people do is impacted by the distinctive human and
physical characteristics in the place where they live. This is the Ohio state
new learning standard used as the overarching theme for the entire unit.
Storm chasers are very important to society because they research
natural disasters and help scientists and meteorologists to be able to predict
when tornadoes and hurricanes will occur. Having video footage of the sky,
readings of the winds and testimonies of what the natural disaster was
actually like gives people confidence in knowing when a storm is coming and
time to prepare.
This unit has been designed for a 2nd grade class. It is important that
students have some sort of background knowledge on the profession of storm
chasing. Students should understand prior to starting the lessons that as
exciting as it sounds to go and film a tornado, storm chasing is a very
dangerous profession. Students should be taught about some of the safety
precautions storm chasers take when they go out into the field.* Before the
unit starts, it might be a good idea to conduct different storm safety drills in
the classroom with the students and practices safety techniques they can do at
home.
Personally I believe that when teachers are going to teach a unit on
anything, they need to be well-versed on the subject. Students will want to
submerge themselves in the subject if their teacher is excited and
knowledgeable on the subject. Teachers should not be ashamed nor afraid to
go back and learn something new themselves; in fact, this is what the best
teachers do! As a resource for you the teacher I have included Appendix C
which is an entire 15 page packet on storm chasers: their work, their history,
and their purpose! Prepare yourself to answer any question the kids may ask.
Teachers have the power to become superheroes. Embrace it!
Happy chasing!

*Here is a link to a webpage discussing precautions and safety protocol for storm chasers:
http://www.cimms.ou.edu/~doswell/Chasing2.html
3

Concept Map
Language
Arts

Math

Science

Students will
work in groups to
analyze a passage
of a text and then
work together to
write a concise
paragraph
illustrating the
main idea of the
text they read in
their own words.

Concept Outline

Language Arts Lesson Plan 6E Model

Objective: Students will work as a group to discover the main idea of a passage of a book
on storm chasers and write an informational paragraph summarizing the main idea of that
passage.
Content Standards:
Ohio Social Studies New Learning Standards - Overarching standard for the unit:
Grade 2: 6. The work that people do is impacted by the distinctive human and physical
characteristics in the place where they live.

Common Core Language Arts Standards Grade 2:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.2.2: Identify the main topic of a multiparagraph text as well as the
focus of specific paragraphs within the text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.2.2: Write informative/explanatory texts in which they introduce a
topic, use facts and definitions to develop points, and provide a concluding statement or
section.

Motivation (ENGAGEMENT): Ask students about a time that a storm impacted their plans.
Ask the students if the weather ever shapes the way that people go about their day. Ask if
parents watch the news to see the weather and to prepare for potentially hazardous
conditions. Pull up some video footage from YouTube of a tornado in action to demonstrate
to the students to force and power of Tornados.
Instructional Materials: For this lesson, you will need:
Storm Chasers Leveled Reader by: Linda Johns

Procedures:
Introduce the printout read Storm Chasers to the class by highlighting the pictures,
maps, graphs, and the glossary for defining new vocabulary words (EXPLORATION).
Assign students into 6 different groups by putting students together who have the
same favorite kind of weather.
Give each group a different section of the book as their main focus (EXPLANATION)
o Sections of the book/Topics for each group:
The Storm Chasing Occupation (material from the Chasing the
Wind and Storm Chasers on the Job chapters)
Tornado Alley (material from the Tornado Alley chapter)
Weather Conditions of Tornados (material from Tornado Weather
chapter)
Tools Used to Predict Tornados (material from Can You Predict a
Tornado)
What to do During a Tornado (material from the Tornado Safety
section)

Classes of Tornados and Their Destruction (material from the

Tornado Destruction chapter)
After assigning groups and explaining the individual topic and chapters of material
for each group, tell each group of students that they will be responsible for helping
their classmates understand the topic that the group was assigned by writing a
paragraph discussing the main idea of their assigned chapter.
Watch the brain pop video on summarizing and writing out the main idea of a
passage. (E-LEARNING)
Brain pop video URL:https://www.brainpop.com/english/writing/mainidea/
Each group must (ELABORATION):

Classroom: Discussion: Encourage the groups to brainstorm with their group members as
to what the main ideas of their assigned passage are.
Academic Vocabulary:
Identify: used to help students understand locating the main point of their assigned
chapters of material for the group presentation
Define: used when students explain what new words mean to the rest of the class
Locate: used to describe the process of finding word definitions in the glossary
Summarize: used to help students write their concise summary of the chapter(s)
they read
Brainstorm: used to help the students learn how to think and bounce ideas off of
the other members of the group

Assessment and Evaluation (EVALUATION): After giving the students several days to
work with their group and prepare their projects, each group will present their information
to the class. Students will get a chance to relate their summaries, show off their creative
skills all while increasing their language skills and self-confidence by having to present in
front of the class. Using the observation method of evaluation would also allow the teacher
to make sure each student participates and contributes to the final presentation, which in
and of itself is another form of assessment.
Value Added:
This particular article describes how to find the main ideas of a text by breaking it down
into a step-by-step process easy for kids to grasp.

1. This particular article describes how to find the main ideas of a text by breaking
it down into a step-by-step process easy for kids to grasp (Found in Appendix A).
http://www.smekenseducation.com/helping-students-identify-the-main-idea-ofany-text.html
Paragraph writing graphic organizer (Found in Appendix C)
2. UDL (Universal Design for Learning)
a. For English Language Learner students, provide supplementary readings
on storm chasers in the students native language. This way the student

has the primary text of the lesson in English but also has helpful articles
as a back-up in the primary language.
b. For students with Autism, find out what their specific role will be in the
group presentation and create a task card with specific step-by-step
instructions for these students to follow about .

DESIRED RESULTS

Math Lesson Plan Backwards Design Model

Objective: Students will solve addition and subtraction word problems and
problem solving skills to figure out whether or not a storm chaser can escape
tornado in time.

Content Standards:
Ohio Social Studies New Learning Standards - Overarching standard for the unit:
Grade 2: 6. The work that people do is impacted by the distinctive human and
physical characteristics in the place where they live.

Common Core Mathematics Standard Grade 2:

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.2.OA.A.1: Use addition and subtraction within 100 to solve
one- and two-step word problems involving situations of adding to, taking from,
putting together, taking apart, and comparing, with unknowns in all positions, e.g.,
by using drawings and equations with a symbol for the unknown number to
represent the problem.

Motivation: After having focused for awhile on subtraction and addition problems,
explain to the students that they are going to use their knowledge to help save storm
chasers!

LEARNING PLAN

Instructional Materials:
Paper
Pencils
Whiteboard
Dry Erase Markers

Procedures:
Start with bringing up a word problem on the board and talk about the
importance of talking through the problem first.
o Sample problem: Tim the storm chaser is researching a tornado that is
45 miles away. He wants to get up close to the tornado so that he is only
26 miles away. How many miles will Tim have to move in order to be 26
miles from the Tornado?
Tim has to be at least 25 miles away from the tornado in order to be able to get away
in time, if he moves up close will he still be able to get away?
Should Tim move up close? Why?
Work through a step by step technique going through each part of the
problem.
Step 1: Underline important information
o Sample problem: Tim the storm chaser is researching a tornado that is
45 miles away. He wants to get up close to the tornado so that he is only
9

LEARNING PLAN CONTINUED

26 miles away. How many miles will Tim have to move in order to be 26
miles from the Tornado?
Tim has to be at least 25 miles away from the tornado in order to be able to get away
in time, if he moves up close will he still be able to get away?
Should Tim move up close? Why?
Step 2: Draw a picture illustrating the story problem.
Step 3: Separate the problem into all of the separate questions.
o Sample problem:
Question 1: How many miles will Tim have to move in order to
be 26 miles from the Tornado?
Question 2: Tim has to be at least 25 miles away from the
tornado in order to be able to get away in time, if he moves up
close will he still be able to get away?
Question 3: Should Tim move up close?
Question 4: Why?
Step 4: Figure out which function/technique is needed for each part of the
problem.
o Sample problem:
Question 1: How many miles will Tim have to move in order to
be 26 miles from the Tornado? Subtraction
Question 2: Tim has to be at least 25 miles away from the
tornado in order to be able to get away in time, if he moves up
close will he still be able to get away? Comparing numbers
o Question 3: Should Tim move up close? Figuring out which number is
bigger
o Question 4: Why? Critical Thinking

ASSESSMENT EVIDENCE

Classroom Discussion: Ask the students how they know whether to add or
subtract miles. Ask why it is important to be a certain distance away from the
tornados.
Academic Vocabulary:
Subtraction: The word to describe the specific math function.
Illustrate: Describe and explain a problem through a picture.
Describe: When a person explains and elaborates on a certain concept.

Assessment and Evaluation: Use homework problems as a tool to help gage

whether or not the child understood the concept of interpreting the word problems.

Value Added:
1. Article on the importance of word problems
http://www.mathworksheetscenter.com/mathtips/wordproblemsareimportant.html
(Found in Appendix A)

10

2. UDL (Universal Design for Learning)

a. For ELL (English Language Learners), have them work in groups with
native English speakers. Also, let the ELL student draw the picture of
the problem.
b. For students who cannot read, have the picture of the problem drawn
ahead of time to display on the board for everyone with the numbers
clearly labeled so that everyone can follow along on the problem.

11

Science Lesson Plan

Objective: Students will learn about erosion and the effect of water damage on different
environmental terrains.

Content Standards:
Ohio Social Studies New Learning Standards - Overarching standard for the unit:
Grade 2: 6. The work that people do is impacted by the distinctive human and physical
characteristics in the place where they live.

Ohio Science New Learning Standards - Overarching standard for the unit:
Grade 2 - Earth and Space Science: This topic focuses on air and water as they relate to
weather and weather changes that can be observed and measured.
Motivation: Tell students that one big thing that storm chasers do is learn how different
storms operate and affect the environment, so they can help people prepare for and predict
natural disasters. Watch the StudyJams Weathering and Erosion YouTube video before the
lesson begins https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyysL02ZvQ8.

Instructional Materials:
A computer
Projector (with connections to a computer) OR something for the students to watch
a video on
Smartboard (optional)
Posterboard
Various art materials

Procedures:
After watching the StudyJams video, write the words and definitions for erosion and
weathering up on the board. Allow the students to come up with the definitions.
Discuss the 5 different types of erosion:
o Soil erosion
o Water erosion
o Glacier erosion
o Wind erosion
o Sea erosion
Use the Shape It Up online erosion activity from kineticcity.com to help students
differentiate between types of erosion. Allow each student the opportunity to
answer one question. If the class has access to a smartboard let the students come
up and touch which answer they want.
o Activity URL: http://www.kineticcity.com/mindgames/warper/
Have the students split up into groups of three (let the students choose their own
groups) and give each group a piece of posterboard. Ask each group to create a
12

poster illustrating the differences between erosion and weathering. (Keep the
directions very broad to allow for creativity!)

Classroom Discussion: Ask students which type of erosion tornadoes create? Why is
erosion important in storm chasing? Have the students open up discussion to relate the
two areas.
Academic Vocabulary:
Erosion: The carrying away of broken parts of a substance
Weathering: The breaking down of a substance

Assessment and Evaluation: At the end of the lesson, ask the students to present their
posters to the class and show off their creativity and examples of erosion and weathering.

Value Added:
1. The National Geographic Article, Erosion and Weathering, discusses the basic
concepts of water, weather, and the effects of various factors on the
environment. (Found in Appendix A)
http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/earth/the-dynamicearth/weathering-erosion-article/
*Additional supplementary articles on erosion and weathering can be found in Appendix B

2. UDL (Universal Design for Learning)

a. For ELL (English Language Learners) students, you lots of pictures to
show the difference between erosion and weathering. Be sure to use the
vocabulary words in context and not just for rote memorization.
b. For students with Autism, create a detailed task card explaining the
process of erosion and weathering with pictures showing the differences.
c. For student who have hearing loss, be sure to used closed captions when
viewing the StudyJams YouTube video.

13

Appendix A

(Value Added Articles from Lesson Plans)

Language Arts Lesson Plan (article 1):

HELPING STUDENTS IDENTIFY THE MAIN IDEA OF ANY TEXT
When teaching students about main idea, scaffold your instruction. Students
need to first learn how to identify the concrete and literal before they can
determine the inferential. Here's a series of skills to slowly work through
with your readers.
1. First, help students identify key words (nouns and verbs) found within
a single sentence. What is the sentence about?
2. Then, guide students to be able to identify key words (nouns, verbs,
and adjectives) in a single paragraph. What is the paragraph about?
3. Eventually reveal short passages that each have a literal topic
sentence. (Be sure to find examples that have the topic sentence in
various positions in the paragraph.)
4. Now it's time for the big step--moving from the literal to the
inferential. Have students determine the implied main idea within a
single paragraph.
5. Then slowly increase the length of the passage from one paragraph to
multiple paragraphs, each time asking students to determine the
implied main idea. NOTE: There is no sense reading longer texts if
students can't infer main idea in shorter ones.
Retelling and Summarizing Lead to Main Idea
Let's target the first three steps in the scaffold
above. Teach students to locate the literal words
that represent the subject of a sentence or
paragraph. Before working on main idea, just work
on retelling and summarization. This can easily be
done with the ABC Chart. (For versions of the ABC
Chart as a PDF, in Word, or for SmartBoard,
visit Smartboard Template in our Idea Library.)
After reading a passage, guide the students in
recalling important details (words and phrases)
from the text. Write each one on a sticky note and adhere it to the ABC
Chart based on the letter the detail starts with. Students recall as many
facts and details as they can from the reading, although they don't have to
think of one detail per letter.
After recalling, it's time to organize these thoughts. This is step 2, the
sticky-note sort. Pull all the sticky notes off the chart and line them up on
14

the front board. Have students move them around based on chronological
order (like a timeline with beginning, middle, end) or organize them by big
ideas (like a web). With the details recalled and organized, students can
then work on an oral retelling of the passage.
This ABC Chart Sticky Sort is a 2-step process--Students first recall
important words and details from the reading (steps 1 and 2), and then they
group and organize them based on big ideas. This will help support steps 1,
2, and 3 of the scaffold above.
Shifting from the Literal to the Inferential
When targeting steps 4 and 5, you're now asking students to step back from
the text and rather than find the literal, you want them to think about the
implied. This is a big shift. Students are always "looking" for the answer.
They need to know the main idea is not usually in the reading, but rather
about the reading.
To help with this, consider the connection between main idea and a title. A
title alerts the reader to what the text will be about. It indicates not only the
subject or topic, but also the perspective and slant. It tells the reader what

about the topic will be explained within the reading. Titles

are main ideas. Within 4-8 words kids can summarize the gist of a story or
text.
Before reading your next passage, remove the title. Read the text and then
ask your students What could be the title of this text? What was this text
mostly about? Then compare it to the original title to see how close the
students came. Acknowledge that by titling the text students are
determining the main idea.
APA Citation:
Helping Students Identify the Main Idea of Any Text. (2015, January 1).
Retrieved March 31, 2015, from
http://www.smekenseducation.com/helping-students-identify-themain-idea-of-any-text.html

15

Math Lesson Plan:

WHY ARE WORD PROBLEMS SO IMPORTANT IN YOUR LIFE ANYWAY?
As a child I absolutely loved doing word problems. Even back then I loved
visualizing and playing with words and numbers. Bringing together the
ability to use words and math is creative and helps us in our everyday lives.
It is one of those abilities that you can use for the rest of your life.
The values of word problems can be seen as the ability too visualizes are
progressively developed. From a young age children are taught to play with
objects, when we get older that same ability is taken to a higher level by
doing word problems. It helps and assists in the general development of
human beings. Teaching you, to bring things in context with one another.
Word problems teach you to accept a challenge but also to persevere and
use both logic and creative ability combined. When you visualize the word
problem you will be able to get to the solution quicker. Most of us enjoy a
good challenge; after all, it gives spice to life doesn't it. It makes a boring
day interesting and a good challenge can even revitalize all your senses.
When solving word problems you do not need difficult problem solving
techniques, but you can make use common sense to solve the problem. This
is especially useful in cultures where they only have basic funding and
accessories. Sometimes we want to think complicated instead of logical, and
most solutions lie in logical thinking.
Word problems teach children to become creative thinkers. In history we
have many men and woman who fall into that category, like Shakespeare for
instance. This will also teach children to become independent thinkers and
they will come up with concepts and designs that are new and exciting.
Word problems are a caterpillar in order to develop a good understanding.
Word problems are very valuable in teaching children to solve problems in
their everyday lives. They can take their real live situations and apply the
same principles to get to a solution.
Word problems give children the ability to bring together reality and math;
this will equip them to do the same with real life situations. Reality can
sometimes be harsh and cruel, but by applying word problem principles they
get in touch with reality and start to see the world as a friendly place.
Classrooms can become alive and excited when using real objects to solve
word problems. Things like coins, matches, stones, leaves and even food like
nuts and raisins can be used with great success.

16

We live in a serious world with serious problems. There is seldom a child that
is not affected by it. By making the learning experience fun, children can be
children again. Word problems can be a fun activity and something to look
forward too.
Graphing requires skill and by starting to implement it into the word problem
they learn it playfully. Starting with simple lines, and calculations. Then once
they get to the more serious kind of graph they have the basic foundation on
how to do it.
When doing word problems color and difference can be brought into the
equation. Playfully children are learning how to use color and combine it with
numbers. New textures can be used and introduced as well.
A Word problem lays a new kind of network. It opens a new door of
opportunity to kids. They are introduced to math in a new way that comes to
life and entices them. They discover that math can be interesting and
enjoyable at the same time.

APA Citation:
Why are Word Problems So Important in your Life Anyway? (n.d.). Retrieved
March 31, 2015, from
http://www.mathworksheetscenter.com/mathtips/wordproblemsareim
portant.html

17

Science Lesson Plan:

EROSION AND WEATHERING: SCULPTING NATURE
Weathering and erosion slowly chisel, polish, and buff Earth's rock into ever evolving
works of artand then wash the remains into the sea.
The processes are definitively independent, but not exclusive. Weathering is the
mechanical and chemical hammer that breaks down and sculpts the rocks.
Erosion transports the fragments away.
Working together they create and reveal marvels of nature from tumbling boulders high
in the mountains to sandstone arches in the parched desert to polished cliffs braced
against violent seas.
Water is nature's most versatile tool. For example, take rain on a frigid day. The water
pools in cracks and crevices. Then, at night, the temperature drops and the water
expands as it turns to ice, splitting the rock like a sledgehammer to a wedge. The next
day, under the beating sun, the ice melts and trickles the cracked fragments away.
Repeated swings in temperature can also weaken and eventually fragment rock,
which expands when hot and shrinks when cold. Such pulsing slowly turns stones in the
arid desert to sand. Likewise, constant cycles from wet to dry will crumble clay.
Bits of sand are picked up and carried off by the wind, which can then blast the sides of
nearby rocks, buffing and polishing them smooth. On the seashore, the action of waves
chips away at cliffs and rakes the fragments back and forth into fine sand.
Plants and animals also take a heavy toll on Earth's hardened minerals. Lichens and
mosses can squeeze into cracks and crevices, where they take root. As they grow, so
do the cracks, eventually splitting into bits and pieces. Critters big and small trample,
crush, and plow rocks as they scurry across the surface and burrow underground.
Plants and animals also produce acids that mix with rainwater, a combination that eats
away at rocks.
Rainwater also mixes with chemicals as it falls from the sky, forming an acidic
concoction that dissolves rock. For example, acid rain dissolves limestone to form karst,
a type of terrain filled with fissures, underground streams, and caves like the cenotes of
Mexico's Yucatn Peninsula.
Back up on the mountains, snow and ice build up into glaciers that weigh on the rocks
beneath and slowly push them downhill under the force of gravity. Together with
advancing ice, the rocks carve out a path as the glacier slumps down the mountain.
When the glacier begins to melt, it deposits its cargo of soil and rock, transporting the
rocky debris toward the sea. Every year, rivers deposit millions of tons of sediment into
the oceans.
Without the erosive forces of water, wind, and ice, rock debris would simply pile up
where it forms and obscure from view nature's weathered sculptures. Although erosion
18

is a natural process, abusive land-use practices such as

deforestation and overgrazing can expedite erosion and strip the land of soils needed
for food to grow.
APA Citation:
Erosion and Weathering: Sculpting Nature. (n.d.). Retrieved March 31, 2015, from
http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/earth/the-dynamic-earth/weatheringerosion-article/

19

Appendix B

(Paragraph Hamburger Organizer)

20

21

22

Appendix C

(Storm Chasers Background Info)

CHAPTER ONE

STORM CHASING

torm chasing, in its simplest terms, is the art and science of meeting with a thunderstorm, for any reason.
Tornadoes are widely regarded as the main target for
storm chasing activity, but anything photogenic, unique
in structure, or awe-inspiring fits the definition of a chase
target. The photographers throughout Arizona and New
Mexico who head to the foothills in pursuit of a perfect
lightning shot are storm chasers, too, and many have just as
much skill and experience as the Great Plains storm chasers.
The ultimate goal of storm chasing is incredibly
multifaceted and varied. Some chasers focus on honing their
photography skills. Some chase to supplement their income.
Others see it as a great alternative to a dull beach- front
vacation in Hawaii. Others are invested intellectually as part
of a university research project. Regardless of the goal, a
common thread binds all of these activities together: the need
for an unrivalled degree of perseverance and a requirement for
scientific understanding. Almost no chas- ers get very far
before they have to turn to the books and to the latest scientific
research to get a grasp of what they are seeing in the sky. This
shapes field strategy and determines success.
Finally, a unique attribute of storm chasing is that it
shares common roots with flying and computer gaming: it
was made possible only by 20th century technological
advances. Storm chasing requires a dense, efficient road
network; reliable automobiles with low operating costs and fast
speed; and an understanding of storm-scale meteorol- ogy and
forecasting. The first two ingredients did not exist in the
United States until the 1930s, and still do not exist in many
parts of the world that get tornadic storms. The latter
prerequisite, storm knowledge, did not appear until the
1950s, as the work of storm researchers Horace Byers, Ros- coe
Braham, and later Theodore Fujita slowly solidified into an
primordial understanding of storm cell character. With this
knowledge, storm chasing slowly began to flourish.

The essence of chasing

The whole chase experience is surreal. Its a nomadic
existence for one or more weeks,
never knowing where youll lay
your head that night. It s an
excuse to live on junk food, eat
at greasy spoon cafes, have bacon every day, and be blissfully
unaware of slow service. Its the
beauty of the endless flat prairie,
which before I chased I saw as
boring but have come to love.
Its soothing, like being on a boat
in the middle of an endless sea.
Its a refreshing feeling of
freedom that makes the East
Coast seem claustrophobic with
its hills and trees. Its the tiny
blink-and-you-miss-it towns.
Its the way the sky, even on a
fair-weather day, demands your
attention. Its the pride of knowing the geography: the obscure
towns and knowing its motels
and restaurants.
And last but not least, its
the fellow chasers as well as the
offbeat characters who call the
Great Plains home.
JIM CARUSO
Pennington, NJ chaser

The history of chasing

David Hoadley, one of the

first recreational chasers.

Neil Ward, one of the first

research chasers.

Roger Jensen, one of the

first severe weather photographers.

One of the first storm chasers is David Hoadley (1938- )

who in 1956 began chasing storms in North Dakota. He was
a prolific artist and later founded Stormtrack magazine. Further south in the late 1950s, Weather Bureau employee Neil
Ward (1913-1972) unwittingly became the first scientific
chaser. Initially he pursued Oklahoma storms out of curiosity but soon developed an interest in seeking visual correlation with radar signatures and forming conceptual models
of storms. The late Roger Jensen (1933-2001), a published
Minnesota photographer, is considered in some circles to be
a storm chasing pioneer. Jensen was among the first storm
photographers and had a great passion for weather which
sustained him through his later years of declining health.
Though there were airbone storm chases in 1946 during
the federally-operated Thunderstorm Project in Florida,
the first research chases by car date back to the mid-1960s, in
which various universities and research facilities fanned out
to collect fresh hailstone specimens. Hurricane chasers were
also becoming active, starting in the 1950s with Arthur Pike
of the National Hurricane Research Laboratory and
Clarence Gibbons of CBS News. Later in the 1960s chasers
affiliated with Florida State Universitys weather department
began chasing hurricanes.
The first full-scale thunderstorm research chase program began on 18 April 1972 in Oklahoma. The University
of Oklahoma (OU), in cooperation with the National Severe
Storms Laboratory (NSSL), created the Tornado Intercept
Project (TIP). Designed to investigate characteristics of
tornadic storms, this project was a turning point in the
history of storm scale meteorology. Its core group created
the first generation of storm chasers, some of whom are are
still active today. The program also quickly paid off with
rich documentation of the famous Union City, Oklahoma
tornado in 1973.
Soon a fusion of storm chasing roots occurred. At an
American Meteorological Society conference in October
1977, pioneer David Hoadley, chaser Randy Zipser, and TIP
veterans Charles Doswell, Alan Moller, and Richard Anthony gathered in a hotel room and screened their thunderstorm slides. The group resolved to keep in touch, and that
very night, Dave Hoadley began working on the first issue of

David Hoadleys self-portrait: the early years.

The Early Years of Chasing

David Hoadley
I began storm chasing in 1956, a few
years after the late Roger Jensen blazed that
first, brave trail on which we all now follow.
My early range was from the Dakotas to
western Minnesota, but usually centered
on the eastern half of my home state: North
Dakota.
My first chase car was the family Olds
88, which we bought new in 1955 and to
which I added many of the 163,000 miles.
It was later traded for a Buick. I used it
on weekends a Saturday here, a Sunday
there when it wasnt needed at home
and storms were brewing. My family was
always very supportive, if a little apprehensive, and enjoyed my chase accounts after
each return.
I saw my first tornado on August, 1958
near Wing, North Dakota but that was
mainly luck, since the next one didnt come
for another four years near Leola, South
Dakota. After another few years, my learning curve began to kick in and more were
seen as skill added to luck.
My particular memories of those early
Dakota chases, besides traveling many
more graded farm roads than are found

today, were the blizzard of bugs and carpet

of frogs that followed many heavy storms.
On warm summer nights, when returning
from a chase, the Dakota ponds that dot the
eastern half of the state quickly served up
an instant generation of flying insects that
swarmed to the only headlights for 20 miles
and soon rendered my windshield a greasy
mess.
On other nights, the insects took a
break and the amphibians took over. Then
my headlights showed a pavement covered
with thousands of small, leaping frogs. I always slowed since traction quickly becomes
a problem. The frogs were impossible to
dodge. You just kept going, quietly saying to no one in particular, Sorry. Sorry.
Sorry.
One thing I especially miss from those
Dakota years were the northern lights.
That, plus the long drives across onceIndian country and the remembered history
of pioneer settlements have etched that
experience indelibly in the mind. It was a
good place to hone both my patience and
skills for the later, more abundant years in
the heartland of tornado alley.

Merits of Twister
I know most people look
at this movie as nothing more
than a big, dumb special effects
movie, but I seem to get MUCH
more out of it. I adore this film.
Why is Twister something more
then just your normal dumb summer movie? Well there are a few
reasons. One that comes to mind
is how gorgeous this film is. No
other film I can think of so beautifully captures middle America as
well as Twister. There are over
a hundred shots in this film that
could easily be made into a postcard they are that gorgeous!
Anonymous reviewer
imdb.com

A long day s sunset. (Tim

Vasquez)

Stormtrack, sent to a dozen individuals. It would be the first

of many issues.
In the public arena, storm chasing emerged into the
American conscience with the airing of In Search Of...
(Alan Landsburg Productions) in 1978. This show profiled
chase and research operations at NSSL. Years later, the PBS
program Nova: Tornado! (WGBH) aired in November 1985,
touching again on NSSL chase operations and the TOTO
tornado observatory. The hour-long scientific documentary and publicity surrounding the program stirred interest
among many weather enthusiasts and inspired future meteorologists, leading to drastic increases in the Stormtrack
subscription roster. In May 1986, Dave Hoadley retired
from Stormtrack, handing the enterprise to Tim Marshall, a
damage engineer and meteorologist in Texas.
During the early 1990s, television once again seized on
tornado chasing, though this time the dry educational
content was replaced with the cocktail of unpredictable
content from home video, which had recently exploded into
popularity. Tornado clips showed frightened families, merry
narrators, and reckless chasers. In spite of this content, the
storm chasing hobby saw another generation of productive
beginners who saw past the hype and took inspiration.
The final wave that sent ripples through the storm
chasing community was the May 1996 release of the Warner
Brothers film Twister, a scientifically-bankrupt blockbuster

film that promoted massive interest in storm chasing. In spite

of the temporary chaos it brought to the hobby, includ- ing an
overnight doubling of the Stormtrack ranks, countless Twister
enthusiasts dropped out of sight by 2000, probably having
discovered that chasing was nothing like the movie.
The storm chasing hobby saw its biggest revolution with
the arrival of the Internet, which completely redefined how
storm pictures and video gets published. Moving with the
times, Stormtrack discontinued its paper magazine in 2002
and provided its followers with a discussion forum, currently the largest online community that caters to chasers.
Many storm chasers maintain their own websites and post
photo galleries, chase logs, and streaming video. Todays
storm saturation is a far cry from that mild October night in
1977 when chasers were blessed with an unimaginable, rare
chance to feast on amazing storm imagery and uncharted
chase stories.

Not just the sky: the ground!

I took several geology classes in school and I often find
myself searching the ground
for unusual rocks and minerals.
Ive found several arrowheads
and fossils over the years. I
especially enjoy checking out the
rocky, hilly terrain of southwest
Oklahoma. Although Im not
particularly fond of botany or
zoology, it is still interesting to
see the different types of plants
and animals across the region.
Makes the bust days a little more
interesting. Well, sometimes!
ROB SATKUS
Oklahoma City, OK chaser

What is a chaser?
Storm chasers are individuals who share a common
interest in severe thunderstorms. They are not necessarily
meteorologists or researchers; in fact the vast majority of them
are engineers, cooks, salespeople, programmers, mechanics, and so forth. Storm chasing is largely a hobby, and
nearly all storm chasers pay for their pursuits out of their own
pockets. A sum of $50 per day for a chase is a typical expense,
not counting lodging or car rental.
Its important at this point to make a distinction between
storm spotters and storm chasers. Storm spotters are amateur radio
operators who travel within or just outside of a city to observe and
monitor severe weather as part of a local emer- gency management
program. Spotters
operate under the
centralized guidance of
a team leader at the base
station, and op- erations
focus entirely on
interpreting exist- ing
storm structure. This is
an important
distinction, because
storm chasers are free to
travel anywhere

Storm chasing in the 1970s

wasnt just about chase vehicles. It
depended on a sophisticated
nowcasting operation that used
impressive legacy technology
but relied on an assortment of
coarse surface, satellite, and
radar data and very limited forecast experience. (NOAA)

About research chasing

There are definite pros and
cons to chasing with a major
field project compared to chasing
on your own. The advantages
include low-cost chasing (gas
and lodging is paid for, and
sometimes a small stipend or
per diem is even paid), meeting
and networking with some of the
leading meteorological scientists
in the world, learning about the
instrumentation and equipment
used in the project, and being
able to take part in a project
with research goals designed to
benefit all of society.
There are disadvantages.
You do not have any control
over the daily target area. Most
people are not able to participate
in the forecasting and decision
making except for the core scientists, so most volunteers are
basically a worker doing exactly
the task they are assigned.
On individual chase vacations downtime can be used to
go home briefly, visit friends, go
to scenic or historics sites or
any other number of entertaining ways to spend time. During
a major project, they will likely
be spent in an individual city,
sometimes small and fairly rural,
with a full workload on
vehicles repairs, data backups,
and analy- sis etc.
These programs can be difficult to get into, depending on
the number of volunteers and
the number of positions available. However, if an individual is
interested in the scientific benefits from chasing, this can be
an excellent opportunity to learn
and lot in a fun environment,
while meeting many people and
observing high tech data collection methods.
DANNY CHERESNICK
Longmont, Colorado chaser

Great storm experiments

TIP (1972-1986) Tornado Intercept Project. The first scientific field
project on severe thunderstorms, undertaken by NSSL.
SESAME (1979) Severe Environmental Storms And Mesoscale Experiment. Sampled southern plains storm activity at different scales
of motion.
VORTEX (1994-95) Verification of the Origins of Rotation in Tornadoes Experiment. Sought to understand the origins of tornado development.
SUB-VORTEX (1997) Explored mobile mesonet systems.
ROTATE (1998-99) Radar Observations of Tornadoes And Thunderstorms Experiment. A Doppler on Wheels field project conducted by
OU.
IHOP (2002) International H2O Project. NCAR project studying water vapor evolution on the Plains.
VORTEX 2 (2009-2010) An effort to study supercells and tornadoes
with maximum density in surface, upper-air, and radar measurements.

they wish and do whatever they like near the storm. With
freedom comes the burden of having to forecast for these
broad areas using relatively little weather data. This book is
specifically written for the storm chasers.
Another distinction needs to be made: research chasers. These individuals consist of meteorology students and
faculty that participate as part of an institutional research
program. For students and volunteers, there is no pay for
this activity except for free lodging and food, as well as
a small travel stipend. The group chases as a team, and
important field decisions are made by a complement of team
leaders. While this does take the guesswork out of the chase,
the structured objectives make it difficult for participants to
personally develop their own forecast methodologies and
test their own tactics in the field. Therefore its no surprise
that a lot of research chasers head to the field by themselves,
living and dying by their own decisions to see what fortune
brings.
A meteorology degree is not any kind of prerequisite for
being a chaser. However a formal education can help
provide insight into forecasts and storm theory, as well as
make sense of the latest research papers. No type of credentials, certification, or licensing is required to chase storms
and there is no sanctioning body nor even a national storm
chaser association. It is largely a loose-knit community.
Storm chasing is in no way regulated by Federal, state, or

local laws. Chasers operate freely, and are simply expected

to abide by all laws that apply to the general public.
Theres a popular misconception, especially among
school-age children, that a career can be made in storm
chasing. The reality is that with rare exception there is no
such thing as a storm chaser job. Getting paid any sizable
sum to storm chase can only be accomplished through two
avenues: either as a self-motivated entrepreneur such as a
tour operator or photographer, or as a university researcher
specializing in severe weather and having completed the
right graduate work. With the former, the financial risks
are high, and with the latter, research dollars are chronically
scarce.
Some storm chasers have cultivated a business of selling
their video and photographs to media companies and stock
agencies. For decades this has been a favored way of increasing the chase budget, though in the 1990s a few chasers
earned thousands of dollars for their pictures. The tide,
however, is changing due to a glut of weather stock photos,
amateur pictures, and freelancers, and the outlook for this
line of work has already clouded.
Perhaps its only fair that storm chasing remains primarily a hobby. A chaser becomes their own boss, going
where they want to go rather than where a team member or
agenda dictates, and success is measured not by how many
tornadoes were logged but by whether it was a memorable,
awe-inspiring day that taught us all something new.

Shooting for TV stations

If you shoot some great
footage and the chase is still
ongoing, you may be expected
to stop your chase to send in
the video. Also, on chase days
where your target is out of the
viewing area, there still may be
a chance of severe weather in
the viewing area.
On these days, you may be
asked to stay in the area. This is
not always a bad thing. On May
1, 2008, everyone was roaming around Kansas watching
the storms line out, but I was
in perfect position to intercept
tornadoes from the surprise
Stillwater storm. Chasing for a
TV station paid off on this day.
Its also a great way to get some
easy gas money, even on nonchase days. In certain situations,
being a member of the media will
get you certain privileges that
being a regular chaser will not.
MIKE SCANTLIN
Tulsa, Oklahoma chaser
Chase convergence . (Tim
Vasquez)

1 / STORM CHASING

Chasers upload storm video

at an Arbys restaurant in Enid,
Oklahoma to regional news stations. Chasers pictured are (left
to right) Andrea Miller, Heather
Briggs, and Matt Patterson. Selling chase footage is a sacrifice
that sometimes requires breaking off from the chase to deliver
the goods. (Steve Miller, www.
hamwx.com)

Caution with the media

Storm chasers should be careful when dealing with the media since any off-color remark
will be quoted and used out
of context. When I give interviews, I emphasize the beauty
of storms, the importance of
calling in storm reports, and my
hope that a storm will occur in
an unpopulated area.
BILL HARK
Richmond, VA chaser

Philosophy and objectives

To some readers, it might appear that a section on
philosophy is chasing abstracted into psychological babble.
Perhaps so! But sooner or later, participants in nearly every
type of human activity begin dwelling on our relationship
with the activity itself. This yields intriguing insights on
what we do, giving us more avenues for appreciation and
even helping to sharpen our skills.
Consider the definition of philosophy: the study of how
we think. Storm chasing is certainly a thinking, intellectual
activity, and how we think during the culmination of a chase
day shapes not only our result but also the notion of whether
weve succeeded of failed. This is largely why there is such
a tremendous range of attitudes in the hobby: negative and
positive alike. Philosophy is the framework that helps us
clarify the definitions of success or failure. Without having
a philosophy, how can we define what chase success is and
find real satisfaction in what we do?
The art of storm chasing is rooted deeply in the dualism
between subjectivity and objectivity, probably more so than
any other hobby. For example, to a journalist it seems quite
simple: a chaser uses intellectual methods to pick out target
areas, and then emotionally experiences the fruits of labor.
Its certainly an acceptable perspective, but in a sense being
pigeonholed into this method of thinking keeps a chaser

from enjoying all aspects of the experience. In many cases,

we have personalities that are stuck to one end of this
spectrum throughout the entire chase!
Take the romantic storm chaser. His objectives are
excitement, inspiration, and visual beauty. The contact
with nature and with others humans is the essence of the
experience. To reach the storm, however, the romantic
chaser must grudgingly look at the underlying form using
scientific tools: maps and data. Perusing these, he applies
only sage experience and pattern recognition, rather than
sound principles and logic. When omega diagnostic charts,
thermodynamic diagrams, and journals are pulled out, the
romantic chasers eyes become glazed over. He says, Those
charts are ugly, dull, and complicated. Lets look outside!
The atmosphere is something real, not expressed in these
coarse abstractions! Once out in the field, the romantic
chaser fails to synthesize what he sees visually with actual
data and conceptual models, and has a hard time in finding
consistent chase success.
At the opposite extreme, theres the classical chaser. She
focuses on the mechanics behind the storm. To her, the
chase day is an incredible puzzle box. She enjoys perusing
the morning data, and she makes use of the mobile mesonet
on her SUV to fill in the data gaps. Seeing a tornado, she
sees a dramatic example of structure and form. It evokes
questions of, How is it all linked together? Whats going on
above the tornado? How does this relate to the conceptual
structures I remember from the journals? The interplay
of colors on the cloud surface and the rich smell of June on
the Great Plains suggest unique combinations of sun angles,
vegetation, and calendar date. The classical chaser looks
at the spotters down the road and grows concerned over
whether anyone is reporting the developing wall cloud. To
simply go out and lie on the hood and soak up the experience would be hedonistic and shallow. The storm is objectified, so much to the point that subtle, beautiful features of
the storm are filtered out ones which might represent
some sort of critical process taking place in the atmosphere.
The tornado fascinates, but fails to make a deep, haunting
impression that encourages the thirst for knowledge. The
classical chaser might simply become bored and move on to
other pursuits after a couple of years.
It can be seen that theres fantastic value and beauty in
each of these mindsets: not just through the romantic
perspective but in the classical form, too. How is it possible

The importance of receptivity

One of chase veteran Al
Mollers favorite books is Gross
& Shapiros The Tao of Photography. In order to convey some
of its potential application to
chasing, Moller strung together
several passages with his 30
years of experience to form the
following pearl of wisdom:
The Tao sage or wise
man has an open mind. It is not
an empty mind, but one that is
uncluttered from constricted
awareness and/or bloated
sense of self. This is critical for
achieving storm chase success.
Little thinking has a chaser
worried about yesterdays failures, rather than the beauty of
being on the road and searching
actively for todays environmental clues.
Receptivity allows ones
thoughts to balance properly
the daily stream of observational data, model data, and environmental clues, while enjoying the process of determining
which clues are most critical.
Receptivity allows the chaser
to accept what happens, and
to maximize the event, whether
during scientific data collection during a field experiment,
or photography during an unstructured chase. And it allows
the chaser to respond instantaneously to chance encounters.
The more you love the
forecasting, navigating, and
ingestion of data and environmental clues, the greater the
success you will have. Get lost
in the joy of the process!

The ideal chase

I see chasing in many ways
a metaphor for how we do life.
In both cases, we are pursuing
a goal, and how we pursue that
goal as well as how we react to
it when we reach our intended
target tells us alot about what
we may learn about ourselves
and where we still may grow.
For instance, what if that
supercell that seemed certain to
produce a tornado for you when
it was 60 miles away and being
the only storm anywhere on
the horizon - collapses just as
you arrive and you instead see
a lightning show or full double
rainbow instead? How do you
handle this? Do you cuss and kick
the ground, or do you say thank
you Creator for the opportunity to
engage in this hunt today.?
When I chase, my most successful times include the attitude
of gratitude.. On my way to a
target region, if I see a beautiful
pearly TCU towering into blue
sky, I give thanks to Creator, and
state that even if nothing else
comes out of the chase today,
this scene made the trip worth it.
When I have an attitude
of gratitude, I seem to tap into
the flow intuitively better. If I
have an attitude of impatience
or grouchiness, then I tend to
make mistakes or in general
forget the possibility of enjoying
the journey in zen-like fashon.
STEPHEN LEVINE
Garland, Texas chaser

Gene Rhoden and Scott

Peake check on a radar image to he lp fine -tune their
position. (Andrew Ryan /
shearamazement.com)

for the chaser benefit from each of them? Should a chase

philosophy be constructed in terms of the moment? Is it
wrong to be stuck in one mental way of thinking or the
other?
A much more prudent chase philosophy is to strive for a
fusion of the two modes, not simply gravitating towards one
perspective or the other but casting it aside completely. This
is done through total awareness. Gusty southeast winds are
noticed, enjoyed, savored, contemplated in the context of
the forecast situation. The mesocyclone is obviously getting
its act together above the widening cloud base, portending
of imminent chase action yet evoking a sense of timelessness, this same scene conceivably unfolding on a Wednesday
a billion years ago, mans presence just a speck within the
Holocene sliver in which we live.
Its very likely that a chaser who is immersed in total
awareness understands all the subtleties of the atmosphere
and can enjoy enormous success rates. Robert Pirsig, in Zen
and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, suggests that the fusion of classicism and romanticism in our culture is rare. It
can probably never be achieved perfectly, but can be strived
for. Its the mechanism that breeds quality through inspiration and moments of genius. Through this fusion, storm

chasing becomes an art form, a philosophy, way of looking

at life, and a source of inner happiness and contentment.
Pirsig suggests that the only way to reach this fusion is
to cultivate an inner quietness. This allows one to be completely in tune with the surroundings. But there are three
main requirements before this can actually occur. First,
comfort is required. This means taking breaks for meals,
suppressing distractions, and keeping the vehicle at a comfortable temperature. Second, adequate tools are needed.
Carry in moderation the partners, gadgets, and equipment
you need to chase successfully. A laptop or cell phone may
not be such a bad idea.
Finally, and most important, avoid traps which make
inner quiet elusive. These include destructive mindsets that
result from anxiety, ego, boredom, impatience, and chase
partner conflicts. If you sense a mental trap developing,
learn to short circuit this way of thinking, figure out what really matters to you at the lowest common denominator, and
work on finding happiness by living only in the moment. If
youre delayed by one of the many Kansas Specials (50-mile
construction zones), let go, enjoy the timeless scenery along
the highway, and perhaps reflect on your good fortune not
being stuck in an office building on this chase day.
A chaser who is pursuing a total-awareness approach
to chasing exhibits both the classic and romantic aspects of
chasing. By being in tune with all aspects of the chase and
the brain freed from stress and frustration, storm chasing
opens the mind, broadens the ability to process and sort
knowledge to make a correct decision, and encourages a
sense of delight no matter what the forecast brings.

Ethics
For a hypothetical chaser alone on a desert island and
separated from other forms of life, ethics are meaningless. For the rest of us, however, chasing brings contact
with other individuals, other chasers, local residents, and
TV viewers, requiring a framework of respect to everyone
involved. The opportunities for a chaser to embarrass or
offend others are surprisingly numerous. This can harm the
hobby over the long term through pervasive public attitudes,
law enforcement harassment, a bad stigma precipitated by
the media, and even the appearance of legislation. All of
these are bad long-term investments for future chases. A
measure making an emergency situation a national security

A British perspective
For me, the central
Plains states have long held a
place in my heart, having seen
pictures of tornadoes at an
early age in various books. For
years before I came to the
USA chasing, the most
evocative image of states like
Kansas, Oklahoma, and Tex- as
was one of a road stretching
into the far distance, with a line
of telegraph/power poles down
one side of the road. And far
from being some kind of romantic personal vision of the region,
my trips have yielded uncountable such scenes, each of
which makes my desire to get
back to the region the following
year even stronger.
Also, its very interesting to me to garner a fuller
understanding of the history
of the region, including that of
the Native American people. I
like to stop and look at historical markers, etc, when given
the chance. The quieter days
relaxing by the pool in a motel,
and waiting for the next potential round of severe weather, is
intoxicating. And quite apart
from this, and, of course, the
storms, I just love the massive
skies, flat lands, and, above all,
the empty roads - the latter only
something we can dream of on
our crowded British islands.
PAUL KNIGHTLEY
Reading, England chaser

Ten nevers Of sTOrm Chasing

Never ignore the traffic, the road, and other drivers; theyre the biggest danger.
Never ignore the lessons of the chase: the bad ones as well as the good ones.
Never talk about storms with unrestrained delight around local residents.
Never block lanes of traffic with your vehicle, equipment, or yourself.
Never follow another chaser on their chase except by permission.
Never frivolously core-punch or frivolously chase at night.
Never trespass on private land except by permission.
Never chase without a learning objective in mind.
Never put yourself or your passengers in danger.
Never chase without safety and courtesy.

An Italian viewpoint
I have to admit that when
you chase in the United States,
its so fine the feeling to be part
of the chase community. You
find other chasers on the road
and its simple to make friends
with them! You wait for convection and you meet someone
that offers his congratulations
on your hail dents! You speak
about meteorology as if those
guys were longtime friends. I
mean you feel great and its
very funny.
Moreover when you speak
with normal people as a chaser,
they dont treat you as a crazy
man. To them you are a man
who helps people to defend
their own safety, and that, believe me, is great. And about
American people: its incredible to see how a Greensburg
survivor puts himself forward to
rebuild his city, confident in the
future and in his country. I love
this positive spirit.
ANDREA GRIFFA
Cant, Italy chaser

area and prohibiting photography would not be a surprising

development in todays political climate.
To help deal with issues like these, many hobbies and
professions in similar predicaments have developed codes
of ethics. Ethics are guiding philosophies which establish
a moral code: a set of right and wrong choices. One of the
first efforts to bring ethics to storm chasing occurred in
1992 when Alan Moller wrote Ethics of Storm Chasing for
Stormtrack. It subdivided core ethics into two key points:
safety and courtesy.
Safety is a topic so important that further discussion of
it will be relegated to its own chapter here within this book.
Not only does safety protect the chasers life: it protects passengers and other drivers and sets an example for newcomers to the hobby.
Courtesy is defined as respect for others. Its a way of
channeling positive energy and goodwill into all interactions
with fellow chasers and the general public, which in turn
makes those facets of chasing easier and much more enjoyable. Its worth noting that many dojos stress that martial
arts without courtesy demonstrates a lack of spirit, equated
with chaos or violence. Lack of courtesy breeds ill will, and
in chasing it sows the seeds for awkward, unpleasant encounters in the field.
One principle which has increased in importance
during recent years is courtesy toward locals and respect
for storm victims. A surprising number of individuals in
the Great Plains have lost property, family, and friends in
severe weather and tend to become fearful and irrational

during severe weather outbreaks.

They staff the gas stations and wait
tables at the restaurants where
chasers congregate, who might be
innocently raving over storm chase
success. Be aware of your conduct.
Damage is another area where
chasers can extend courtesy. Leave
unless youre saving life or property.

The yahoo
A yahoo is any individual chasing a storm who practices harmful
or unethical conduct. Reckless driving is the prime example, as is blocking roads and trespassing onto private property. We all share the responsibility of
not tolerating unsafe, unethical behavior and demonstrating
good chasing by example.
Unfortunately, yahoos attract attention and bask in
it. During the late 1990s, broadcasters capitalized on this
to drive up ratings. Some yahoos became de-facto ambassadors for the hobby. Fortunately this perspective has run
its course and media programming has drifted back to some
semblance of quality. Some local news outlets and Internet
video sites like YouTube, however, do play a part in perpetuating yahoo stereotypes.
It must also be pointed out while a few yahoos are
indeed experienced chasers who have a fringe affiliation
with the chasing community, most of them are not part of
the chaser community at all. With only a local outlet for
their weather interests (often just their own families or
neighbors), theyre known as local yokels. One local yokel
example is the truckload of teenagers driving into a storm,
getting directions via cellphone from a girlfriend watching the local television weathercast. Most local yokels are
completely unaware of storm chasing history and meteorology, aside from a few casual Internet searches, and have little
understanding of how to chase safely.
For the experienced chaser, this makes defensive driving
even more important. Yahoo behavior will probably never
go away, but by recognizing it and understanding its roots,
we can all give ourselves a better margin of safety and personal enjoyment when out in the field. For those who want
to enjoy storms without the circus crowds, a common

A May 3 crowd
A chaser crowd gathers near
Binger, Oklahoma on May 3,
1999 in central Oklahoma.
This one was unexpectedly
created by a roadblock.
Many chas- ers turned
around and picked alternate
routes.
(Tim
Vasquez)

The reward
You cant begin to imagine the struggle that I have to
endure to achieve the proper
outlook on chasing. When I
achieve it Im rewarded as my
criteria for success broadens.
No longer is a chase day consumed by worries that I might
not get the right storm, or that
someone else has a better
view. In the right state, I
live the moment, enjoy what
the sky unfolds, and my
intuition governs my decisions
without distraction.
The
tornado is no longer the
only
requirement
for
satisfaction. Enjoyment and
success
are delivered in
many ways including capturing a photogenic sky, meeting
friends in the field, even the
thought of letting the sky, instead of society, be in control.
JIM LADUE
Norman, OK chaser

Who is the yahoo?

The yahoo is the chronically inconsiderate bonehead,
the normally sane person who
often loses his ability to think
clearly and act safely in the
heat of the moment under
pressure to catch up and get
that intense footage or the
vacuum-brain who doesnt have
that ability at all. These are the
people who run others off the
road, set up tripods in traffic
lanes, drive 90 mph on a wet
two-lane, and roar across private property. Then there are
a few yahoo media crews, justifying all sorts of dangerous actions on the roadways to get the
most extreme possible close-up
footage of neighborhoods being
shredded apart, all in the name
of serving the viewing public
and winning an Emmy.
Dangerous behavior crosses
all experience levels in chasing.
I do argue it is less common
among the veterans. In some
ways, the handful of guys who
have many years of experience
as unsafe, inconsiderate chase
bozos do make things worse!
By getting away with it for so
long without either dying in a
crash or being thrown in jail,
they are setting a terrible example for others who may accompany them or observe the
way they operate. Propagation
of stupidity is indeed possible!
ROGER EDWARDS
Norman, OK chaser

strategy is to separate from the main show and take a risk on

the long shots. Some amazing events have unfolded away
from all the action.

How to start chasing

The very first thing a new chaser should do is, in the
words of chase veteran Tim Marshall: Read all you can.
There is no way that a chaser can pursue storms, stay safe,
and improve their skill without drawing on the rich body of
meteorological knowledge thats blossomed during the past
twenty years. A number of web sites offer links to excellent
resources and can be found throughout this book. Also
there is substantially more which is available in the form of
books and publications. These are listed in the appendix.
Check them out. After educating yourself on storm fundamentals, keep note of the angles that interest you. Use them
as teasers to encourage yourself to learn more. The rest will
fall in place.
Chasers must also spend time putting their knowledge
into actual practice. Obviously you cant repair a Honda
Accord by reading car manuals at bedtime every night
you have to put your knowledge to use by actually seeing
the engine and trying your hand at making a few repairs.
Likewise, there is a wealth of real-time weather information
on the Internet. Seize every opportunity to use this information and prepare your own weather forecasts and chase
predictions, even if youre not going anywhere. Chasing
vicariously is done by many veterans when they cant make
it out the door.
It pays dividends to go on a couple of chases with an
experienced chaser. This allows you to get a firsthand
look at the decisionmaking process. Unfortunately, many
experienced chasers have grown weary of e-mail contacts
with individuals who have no sense of what chasing really
involves, who expect the chaser to fit their schedule, or are
only participating for the thrill. To ride with an experienced
chaser, youll have to do your homework and demonstrate
substantial amounts of flexibility, dedication, and commitment. The opportunities are there; a perusal of the Stormtrack web site or various E-mail lists will present many
options for those with persistence.
One surefire way to get involved right away is to buy
your seat on a chase. There are a handful of excellent commercial chase tour operators who are happy to take you

along and teach you as you intercept spring storms. Always

look for a tour operator who is recommended by other chasers and look for indicators of safety and quality rather than
mere statistics. More tips are provided in the appendix.
And if you have to start chasing the hard way, as many
of us do: start small! Dont head out the door hoping to
see a wedge tornado your first season. Try your hand at
intercepting even the smallest garden-variety storms, and
enjoy the success that comes from simply making it to a
given storm, holding an observing position, and correlating
the storm structures to textbook conceptual models. These
smaller, simpler storms serve as an important foundation for
understanding bigger thunderstorms and offer many visual
puzzles that will sharpen your skills. As you chase, pay
careful attention to your mistakes and your errors, and make
efforts to learn from them after the fact.
Finally, its important to cultivate some interests that
you can draw upon when storms fail to materialize or the
weather patterns go bad. Geology, ornithology, photography, antique-hunting, hiking, and even local history are
among some popular pursuits. Find some aspect of the
Great Plains that captures your interest. The last half of this
book contains an extensive description of various parts of
the Great Plains, proving that theres much more than meets
the eye!

A common thread?
The anecdotal evidence
strongly suggests that while
there might be a semblance of
gender parity at the casual level,
it fades away as one approaches the inner sanctum of [this]
obsessive [activity]. The Nobelprizewinning Dutch ethnologist
Nikolaas Tinbergen speculated
[this hobby] was some sort of
sublimated expression of the
ancient hunting instinct an
observation so screamingly true
it seems rather petty of Tinbergen to have bothered to slap his
name on it.
Every healthy, red-blooded
man knows the experience of
being jolted awake, sometimes
at four in the morning, by an
aching conviction that he really
should be out there on his belly
in the undergrowth stalking a
fellow organism. If one happens
to have binoculars at hand, [it]
is a more than decent outlet for
this atavistic hunger.
BRUNO MADDOX,
discussing birdwatching
Blinded by Science: Birding Brains

Discover Magazine, 2006

The agitation and pressure of
making your own forecast is
what creates skill and instills
intuition. Never be afraid to think
outside the box and live or die
by your own forecast! (David
Hoadley)

APA Citation:
Vasquez, T. (2008).
Storm Chasing.
In Storm Chasing
Handbook (2nd
ed.).

Visit www.readinga-z.com
for thousands of books and materials.

Word Count: 1,176

A Reading AZ Level R Leveled Reader

Storm Chasers

www.readinga-

Written by Linda

LEVELED READER

Appendix D
(Storm Chasers Reader)

www.readinga-z.com

Written by Linda Johns

Chasers

Storm

www.readinga-z.com

All rights reserved.

Storm Chasers
Level R Leveled Reader
2007 Learning AZ
Written by Linda Johns
Illustrations by Cende Hill

Fountas & Pinnell

Reading Recovery
DRA

Correlation
LEVEL R

O
22
34

Front cover, back cover, title page, pages 3, 4, 5, 7, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15,
16, 20: NOAA; page 17: Warren Faidley; pages 12: CORBIS SYGMA;
page 18: Reuters/CORBIS

Photo Credits:

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19

Storm Chasers on the Job. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

Tornado Devastation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14

Can You Predict a Tornado? . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

Tornado Weather . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

Tornado Alley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

Chasing the Wind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

Table of Contents

Some storm chasers are filmmakers and

photographers trying to capture spectacular
images of a tornado. But most storm chasers
are scientists and meteorologists who study
the weather. They put themselves in the paths
of tornadoes to collect information that will
help them better predict tornadoes and save
lives. Their job is dangerous and may seem
thrilling, but being out in severe weather
makes storm chasers extra careful.

What kind of person chases a storm?

Most people run for cover when the weather
turns nasty. But for storm chasers, high
winds, funnel clouds, and lightning are part
of the job.

Chasing the Wind

Storm chasers film a funnel cloud.

Every year, hundreds of tornadoes rip

through the central part of the United States.
They can flip over cars, tear roofs off houses,
and destroy crops. Most tornado winds blow
about 160 kilometers per hour (100 miles per
hour). The strongest tornadoes, sometimes
called super tornadoes, have wind speeds of
402 kph to more than 482 kph (250300 mph).
A super tornado destroys everything in its
path. Less than two percent of all tornadoes
have winds of more than 322 kph (200 mph).

A waterspout forming over water.

The word tornado

comes from the Spanish
word tronada, which
means thunderstorm. Other
common names used for
a tornado are cyclone,
twister, and whirlwind.
A tornado over water is
called a waterspout

Whats in a Name?

The states of Tornado Alley

Colorado

Wyoming

Texas

Oklahoma

Kansas

Nebraska

S. Dakota
Iowa

Minnesota

More than 800 tornadoes a year touch

down in the United States, and more than
half of Earths tornadoes hit the central section
of the United States called Tornado Alley.
Some of the states in Tornado Alley are: Iowa,
Nebraska, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and
Texas. Most storm chasing happens in these
statesin the spring in the southern states of
the Great Plains, and in the late summer in the
northern states.

Tornado Alley

On March 8, 1925, one of the worst

tornadoes in U.S. history ripped through
Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana. The tornado
traveled on the ground for 352 kilometers
(219 miles) and lasted three and a half hours.
More than 600 people died in that tornado,
and 10,000 people lost their homes.

Every state in the United States has

experienced a tornado! They just tend to be
stronger and more frequent in the central part
of the country. Texas has the most recorded
tornado touchdowns of any state.

Tornado devastation in Illinois in 1925

These diagrams explain how a tornado forms.

a cold air mass colliding with a warm

air mass.

cool dry air above the ground

warm moist air near the ground

The recipe for a tornado includes:

Meteorologists have studied tornadoes

by observing them and collecting data, but
they still have much to learn. They know
about most of the weather conditions needed
to form a tornado. But they still do not
know why some funnel clouds touch down,
becoming tornadoes, and others do not.

Tornado Weather

10

Storm chasers are gaining more knowledge

with the data they collect from each tornado,
but meteorologists still cant predict tornadoes
the way they can predict how sunny or rainy
it will be in five to seven days. However,
meteorologists can tell us when conditions
are right for a tornado. Then they can issue
a tornado watch.

You cant always tell when a tornado

might strike, but there are some clues.
Sometimes you can see funnel clouds in the
sky before they touch the ground. At other
times you can see certain cloud formations,
called wall clouds, which precede severe
storms, but not all severe storms produce
tornadoes.

Can You Predict a Tornado?

A tornado watch means that conditions are

right for a tornado. Listen to the
radio or watch the television for
updates on weather conditions.
A tornado warning means
that a tornado has been spotted
nearby. Get inside immediately.

Watch or Warning?

Storm shelter in Alabama mobile home park

If youre outside and cant get safely

indoors, find the closest low area, such as
a ditch, and cover your head with your
arms and hands to protect yourself.

11

Get under a desk or table, or another sturdy

piece of furniture.

Stay away from windows.

Go to a basement. If a basement isnt

available, go to the lowest floor in your
house or building. Go into a hallway or
an interior room.

Get inside a house or a building.

Here are a few things to keep in mind:

Tornado Safety

12

Scientists can learn how severe a storm

is by studying Doppler radar. They can also
pinpoint the exact location of the storm and
how long it will last. On average, tornadoes
last 10 minutes, but they can last only seconds
or stretch on for hours.

Meteorologists use Doppler radar to track

weather conditions. Doppler radar helps
them determine the wind direction and find
early signs of rapidly rotating air inside
thunderstorms. It also helps them determine
precise wind directions. Meteorologists can
give people about 20 minutes warning for a
tornado. Twenty minutes may not sound like
much, but an advance warning can save lives.

Meteorologists look at Doppler radar to track storm activity.

People look over the damage caused by a tornado.

13

tornado an F-scale rating, an expert looks at

the damage after the tornado hits. The F-scale
rating of a tornado cant really be predicted
accurately ahead of the twisteronly after it
has hit.

The F-ratings are based on how much

destruction a tornado caused. An F0 or F1
tornado is weak. But an F5 tornado is a
monster with winds reaching speeds of 420
kph to 512 kph (261318 mph). To give a

Tornadoes are measured by F-scale

ratings. The scale is named for Theodore
Fujita, a scientist who invented a method
for measuring tornadoes.

strong
F3

14

strong

weak

weak

Class

F2

F1

F0

F-scale

254332 kph
(158206 mph)
Cars overturned;
roofs and walls of
houses torn off

181253 kph
(113157 mph)
Large trees uprooted

removed

117180 kph
(73112 mph)
Trees snapped, shingles
and other roof surfaces

(4072 mph)
Broken branches

64116 kph

Wind Speed Estimate

Description

Tornado Devastation

violent

F5

420512 kph
(261318 mph)
Houses torn off
foundations; large
objects tossed
hundreds of feet

333419 kph
(207260 mph)
Houses leveled;
cars tossed around

2. The amount of wind needed to create

similar-looking damage can vary greatly
from one building to the next.

1. Nobody knows the true wind speeds at

ground level in most tornadoes because its
hard to get close enough to measure them.

15

Wind Speed Estimate

Description

The wind speeds in the Fujita scale have

never been scientifically verified in real
tornadoes because:

Best Guess

violent

Class

F4

F-scale

16

The National Weather Service also relies

on ordinary people to watch for tornadoes.
In Tornado Alley, local police and emergency
personnel are trained to spot tornadoes.

Do You Know?

Storm chasers have to be able to interpret

radar reports to find tornadoes to study.
They look at weather data as storms form to
locate a storm that might produce a tornado.
Making an educated guess and relying on
other storm chasers with more experience can
place them five miles away from a tornado
when it hits instead of 50 miles away. Being
close means theyll be able to collect the data
they need to make better predictions.

Storm Chasers on the Job

17

Warren Faidley is a well-known storm

chaser, photographer, and filmmaker. He says
he sometimes has gone an entire year without
seeing a tornado. When he does spot one, he
wants to get the best possible pictures. But he
also needs to stay a safe distance away. Winds
that top 322 to 483 kph (200300 mph) can toss
cars around like toys. The trick for a storm
chaser is to know when to get out of the area
and how to predict a tornados path.

A storm chasers job can seem like a hurry

up and wait game. Professional storm chasers
spend about 10 days hunting storms for
every minute they spend actually watching,
collecting data, or filming a tornado.

Storm chaser Warren Faidley records a tornado in the distance.

18

Storm chasers take their jobs seriously and

believe they have an important mission. They
now know that winds close to the earth may
have a bigger role in forming a tornado than
they previously thought. They know that
the smaller the eye, or center, of the tornado,
the faster it spins. But there is still so much to
learn, and storm chasers work hard to
collect more data to help all of us know more
about the whirling storms that can destroy
lives and rip apart entire towns in just a few
minutes.

The American Red Cross helps people left homeless by natural

disasters, such as fires and tornadoes.

numbers that tell how

destructive and dangerous
a tornado is (p. 13)
funnel-shaped cloud under
the bottom of a thundercloud;
often means a tornado might
form (p. 4)
people who specialize in
studying the earths atmosphere,
climate, and weather (p. 4)
a rotating thundercloud that
reaches high into the sky and
often produces tornadoes (p. 9)
an unofficial name given to an
area in the central United States
where tornadoes frequently
touch down (p. 6)
alert given when a tornado
has been spotted nearby (p. 10)
when conditions are right for
a tornado (p. 10)
smaller clouds that produce
little rain, if any, underneath the
main cloud of a supercell (p. 9)
a tornado over water (p. 5)

F-ratings (n.)

funnel clouds (n.)

meteorologists (n.)

supercell (n.)

Tornado Alley (n.)

tornado
warning (n.)

tornado watch (n.)

wall clouds (n.)

waterspout (n.)

19

sophisticated radar system that

measures velocity (p. 12)

Doppler radar (n.)

Glossary

20

winds, 5, 1215, 17, 18

Warren Faidley, 17

wall clouds, 9, 10

updraft, 9

United States, 57

tornado watch, 10

tornado warning, 10

Tornado Alley, 6

Theodore Fujita, 13

Texas, 6, 7

super tornadoes, 5

storm chasers, 4, 1618

severe storms, 10, 12

safety, 11

National Weather Service, 16

meteorologists, 4, 10, 12

funnel clouds, 4, 810

F-scale, 1315

F-ratings, 13

Doppler radar, 12

devastation, 14, 15

Index