Well, I started chasing locally around 1999, 2000, so I'd say, you know, about 11 years.
I was actually terrified of storms and just seeing what Mother Nature can do is just terrifying.
I started storm chasing in June 1, 2010, was my first ever official storm chase.
People I just meet kind of are like, wow, you're kind of crazy.
Why would you do that?
Why would you put yourself in the danger zone, so to speak, and put yourself at risk?
They all say I'm crazy, each and every one of them.
But after they say I'm crazy, they say that's so cool, and they want to come with one time,
and then they never do.
The basic definition of a storm chaser is somebody who can first forecast the severe
weather to happen, then they will intentionally drive to an area where they think the weather
is going to be bad and wait for that weather to happen, as opposed to just letting it come
to them.
I saw my first tornado May 5, 2007, so I was 24 years old.
Look at this!
Oh my God, look at that!
The camera's going to be funny.
Did my stream start up?
I'm getting out of the car, I'm getting out of the car, I'm getting out of the car, I'm
getting out of the car.
So it took a while before I could finally get that under my belt, and that was part
of the reason they keep at it.
They eluded me for quite a while, never got to see one living in Chicago, obviously that's
not really a tornado hotspot, so I had to go out and make sure that I see it for myself
because I knew it wasn't going to come to me, I had to go out and find it.
A lot of other chasers, they have a childhood encounter with a tornado that sort of sparks
their interest or some event that affected where they live, their home, but for me that
wasn't the case.
I only knew of tornadoes through what I saw on the TV and some of the videos I had, so
I wanted to go out and see this phenomenon for myself.
So I designed these hail guards to be able to hopefully withstand hail up to at least
three and a half inches in diameter, it's a little bit smaller than softball, once you
get to hail that big it'll pretty much destroy anything.
I've always been interested in the weather, severe weather particularly since I was a
kid, since I was a really young kid.
Any time it rained or anything I would be just a nervous wreck, so I knew in my whole
life I couldn't be afraid of storms, so I started doing book reports and projects and
everything on weather.
The biggest hazard in storm chasing isn't what you think it is, one would think it would
be the weather, it's actually driving.
Weather is a secondary hazard in my opinion because you could be filming a tornado and
not notice the road comes to a tee and you're not paying attention to the road and you drive
off of it, some other car could be parked there, you might drive into a house, dangerous
roads, slippery conditions.
royals themselves are hazards, obviously.
What's behind you?
What's behind you?
What's behind you?
Whoa!
Whoa!
Whoa!
Whoa!
We are.
It's alive.
Whoa!
I'm afraid it's soaked.
Whoa!
Whoa!
Whoa!
Whoa!
Whoa!
Whoa!
It's very intense once you're there.
The wind is so strong.
The tornado is just so massive.
You look at it on the TV and you think, okay, it's a tornado.
But when you actually see it in person,
they are massive.
When you look straight, Adam, you look up
and all you see is this giant tornado coming at you.
So it's a very intense moment.
And you never know how you're going to react
until you're in that situation.
So some people can handle themselves very well
and others let their emotions get the better of them.
And they kind of freak out a little bit
and then I have to try to calm them down.
So that way their emotions don't rub off on me
and then I lose composure.
I lose situational awareness.
So you get to try to kind of keep everybody calm.
With a tornado, like let's for example
say Joplin when they just got
south half the town got wiped out.
It's like city blocks
within city blocks and miles
of the same damage
of chaotic violence.
It's not like
two objects hitting each other
and causing bodily harm.
It's a 2x4, a semi,
a train car
falling out of house
with someone in there.
I mean, you can't imagine this stuff.
Major damage here.
We just ran up
to some of these houses.
Seems like no one's home though.
A wild car
left over
for sure.
The horses are just running loose.
Looks like the end of the damage.
We just tried to search and rescue
as many buildings as we could.
Good lord.
The situation in South Dakota
a couple miles from this very spot
right now, actually.
In a similar setting on a similar road.
It was just a mistake, I guess.
It was just...
It was planned by us
for perfect intercept
and for perfect safety.
But the one thing about chasing
is nothing is guaranteed.
God!
Oh my God!
We're getting too close!
We found ourselves trapped
when the road suddenly ended
and that storm
flipped the cards and actually chased us.
We got a fucking bail!
Fuck!
Because there was a road
and there was gas.
We are bailing south on a field.
Oh my God!
This is unbelievable.
I think we're gonna be okay.
No, it's right here.
Yeah, dude, we need to go.
There's like a wedge back there too.
Shit.
Oh, we're good.
There's another wedge touching down right there.
Everybody else is grinding it up.
Oh, man.
Oh, there's a road down there.
Oh, Jesus!
I think there's a road, I hope there's a road.
Oh my God, we are sitting ducks.
Just keep going, keep going, keep going.
This better be a weak tornado.
Fuck, let's go!
Oh my God, look at that tornado!
I can't, you're in the way.
Holy moly.
It's got stuck!
Are we just... I don't know.
I can't see now.
This is the only time I want a tornado to dissipate.
We are like...
This was not our intention.
Oh, shit! Look at the field next to us!
Holy fuck!
There it is!
Holy shit.
We just got spared.
Not yet.
Wow.
Let's go. We gotta turn around and go the other way.
No, we don't, dude. There's a tornado behind us too.
Oh, there's that.
Oh, no, it's clear.
No, that's just the rising motion.
Oh, here!
Okay, you have a cone!
Alright, that could be the main one.
That was probably the scariest moment of my chasing career.
Just knowing it was helpless.
It was a helpless feeling because there was
nowhere to hide.
If you look around like this whole area,
there's nowhere to hide.
There's a rock pile, maybe a random tree,
and a car.
And a car you never want to be in during a tornado
because you're just a flying missile.
If you have the desire to get out there and do it,
I fully get out there and do it.
I'm living my dream right now,
and I'm loving every second of it,
and I would not give it up for the world.
And I wish anyone out there
who wanted to chase
and had the dream of chasing
to get out there and do it.
But to do it safely,
and to do it wisely.
I have a saying where it's,
storm chasing is 9 to 5 percent
boredom, 5 percent pleasure.
And it's usually that 5 percent
happens in like 20 or 30 minutes
on a 16 hour car ride.
But until you're standing
in front of one of these storms,
it just doesn't compare.
It's just like, it's you and the storm,
you feel so small compared to the storm.
It's not easy to track a tornado
to forecast where they're going to happen
to get the shot to, you know,
then there's the whole adventure part of it.
I never know where I'm going to add.
I get to see the country. I travel.
I love the driving. I love the adventure.
Each storm chase is completely different too.
And that's, I think, one of the things
that draws me to it the most is that
I never know what's going to happen.
I never know what to expect.
I never know where I'm going to end up.
That's the life for me.
