This article was originally published in the OTTAWA CITIZEN in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and was written by Megan Thomas of the Canadian Press.
George Kouriounis, a prominent Canadian storm chaser, speaks of the dangers of inexeperienced stormchasers. He called them “Yahoos” in the articles, but those of you who frequent this site often will know them better as “weather whackers”.
It’s an interesting article, and it shows that just because you have a Skywarn sticker on your car (“chase vehicle”) and carry a scanner, a dash-mounted camera, a CB and/or GMRS radio and two types of compasses, a professional stormchaser does not you make.
Stormchasing is serious business. it takes more than being able to spot a ‘crazy looking cloud’ and the abliity to communicate on an FRS radio to safely hunt down severe weather. There are even those who call themselves “stormchasers” who don’t even have a ham radio ticket…!! One begs the question… if they aren’t attached to some sort of university environmental science program or working directly for NOAA, what the hell are you doing out there???! Reporting severe weather for Skywarn is one thing, as it’s an official organization that contributes to the NWS. But if you’re out there with only a camera, a CB and/or GMRS, get the hell off the road and let the pros take over. Just because you can spout off fancy weather lingo and know the difference between SCUD and a genuine lowering doesn’t make you any less of a danger to yourself or others.
Good points, but I’d have to say that the majority of “professional” storm chasers are not related to any sort of agency other than skywarn. Alot of the pro guys out there are just out for the thrill. They all have meteorological degrees, and most of them report for Skywarn, but other than that small connection to the NWS, they’re just out for fun.
I do agree that there are way too many inexperienced wannabe weather whackers out there however.
From the article: “Environment Canada offers a storm-spotting education course each spring for people who are interested in reporting extreme weather to tracking officials. But Coulson said there is a big difference between storm spotting and storm chasing.”
This is the most critical part of the article and, IMO, forms the difference between a weather wacker (i.e. storm chaser) and someone providing a public service (i.e. storm spotting). The public service is that a storm spotter goes where he is told and operates under professional control in both the weather information sought by and provided to NWS and the radio operations to pass the information, preferably a directed net.
OTOH, the weather wacker is not under control of any kind, presenting a danger to both himself and the general public if they get in the way of his thrill-seeking. That is the core of wacker status — not the number of antennae, lights, or other vehicular accoutrements. These items are mere symptoms of the wacker being out of control in most aspects of life.
Antennae, lights, laptops, GPS, etc. are mere tools. How they are used is the crux of wacker status.
That is so true. Many people have been caught at a dead end road, with the tornado roaring up behind them with NO escape. Understanding that WeatherChasing does not mean driving TOWARDS the tornado, it means driving WITH it. So you can “Spot” it (hmm familiar word use!)
They make it VERY clear at the training each year that they are NOT about the chasing, and they don’t recommend or endorse it (even though George and the crew are always there, their their chase vehicles up front and centre)
I’m sure George is making some $$$ from his footage, as he’s always in the limelight.
Do I know what i’m doing? Not really, but i’ve spent enough time with the pro’s to know what’s safe, and what’s stupid.
For those who think that chasing is a good idea, think again and remember this, people get hurt, i’ve seen people get hurt.
1) StormChasers always monitor, converse and report to the Skywarn / Canwarn stormcentre
2) StormChasers don’t chase alone
3) Almost everyone has a navigator (either in their vehicle, or another) to ensure there is always multiple escape routes (REAL roads, fields don’t count)
4) Real training — more than just your SkyWarn / CanWarn training garbage
5) ALL StormChasers read HamSexy.com — because if they don’t, they are WHACKERS!
A short list of the amazing unexpected i’ve seen?
1) Tree limb fly through windshield
2) Hail the size of baseballs shatter windshields and side windows
3) Spinning cars, flying cars, flipping cars, rolling cars
4) Flying panes of glass, flying trees (no flying cows, sorry).
The most condemnation of this article is coming from the WXScan group at Yahoo.
If you ask me, 90% of the members of the group are whackers at the extreme. The owner of the group is a media person who seems to be condeming the article written by a fellow media twit. He’s as quick to jump to a conclusion as the rest of the media idiots out there. Give him an inch and he’ll somehow make a mile long story out of it.
The rest of the group seems to cream their jeans over any chance of severe weather. Toss in some property damage and they’re speeding down the road to be the first on the scene. Most of the group seems to sit in front of their computers and scanner so they can direct the media types on the list to the scene. The others that make it out onto the road seem to run from damage scene to damage scene.
The other 10% of the group actually spend time doing forecasting and are usually in position well before the storm arrives. They seem to be out there because of an interest in severe weather not the damage it causes. They comment on the storm and it’s development/history. They’re involved with Canwarn and pass along reports as they go.
I saw this great van while i was in Kansas City:
http://www.kb3juv.com/DSCF0635.jpg