The dangers of Amateur Stormchasing

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.