Storm Chasing with Tempest Tours
Storm chasing is, in relative terms, a new kind of tourism. Television shows like In Search Of… (1978) and movies like Twister (1996) introduced professional storm chasing to the wider public, and over the last twenty years or so, a number of tour companies have sprung up offering people the chance to join in with the chase.
I only learned of this possibility when a local forecaster joined a chase in 2014. I did some research and contacted Tempest Tours, one of the best reviewed companies on the net. I got a prompt response and answers to all my questions. In 2017, I did Tour 6 and the Solar Eclipse Tour, and in 2018, I did Tour 3, 5 and 6 for a total of twenty-eight days of chasing. In 2019, I will do twenty-nine days of chasing.
Unlike the coach tours I’ve taken, storm chasing has no set itinerary, no hotel list and no included meals. For that matter, it can’t even guarantee that you will get to sit down for lunch or dinner. The itinerary is dictated solely by the weather.
It is the ultimate road trip.
For 2018, we drove almost twenty thousand kilometres. We climbed to three thousand metres in Wyoming, ranged as far south as Alpine, Texas and as far north as Stanley, North Dakota. We visited historic and natural sites and said hello to the aliens in Roswell. And in a year noted for its tornado drought, we saw some spectacular storms.
The tales were written as we travelled and include a lot of details covering the day to day travel and intercepts.
There is also an Overview that has some hints and tips as it describes the daily routine, the vans, hotels and I comment on my camera gear.
The Table of Contents to each tale can be found here:
2017 Chasing the Great American Eclipse
And in tribute to the movie that has inspired so many of us to go storm chasing, each day’s theme for the 2018 tale is a quote from Twister.
All my photos can be found on my flickr pages here:
2017 Chasing the Great American Eclipse
Enjoy.
🙂