The Dangers of Storm Chasing

So you’re curious about storm chasing?

With all of the recent tornado fatalities, many people have expressed concern about my storm chasing activities. In this post, I will describe the dangers of chasing severe storms. It is the fourth of a series of six posts on storm chasing that began with a post on the joys of storm chasing. The intended audience for this series is non-chasers who are interested chasing themselves, or simply interested in how chasing works.

Let me first say that I am touched by the concern. Truth be told, I am a little concerned myself; a lack of concern, with anything dangerous, will lead to mistakes. And, yes, storm chasing is dangerous. I reassure my family members that no one has ever died while storm chasing.--you can’t say that about sky diving, bungee jumping, rock climbing, scuba diving, swimming in the ocean, or even swimming in a pool. But that fact does not mean chasing doesn’t have its dangers, dangers that must be respected when storm chasing, dangers that are avoided precisely because of mitigating measures.

Here are some of the most important dangers of storm chasing:

Lightning: Lightning perhaps poses the greatest storm chasing danger. All severe thunderstorms have lightning in abundance. Lightning poses such a high risk that storm chasers rarely use the term “lightning” but instead use the terms “C.G.” (meaning cloud-to-ground lightning) and “I.C.” (meaning intra-cloud lightning). As you would expect, “C.G.” can be deadly, and “I.C.” is not. Storm chasers will call out “C.G.” to signal photo possibilities, but also to warn others in their group that dangerous lightning is within visual range.

Hail: By definition, all severe thunderstorms contain at least quarter-sized hail in their cores. But hail can be golf-ball-sized, baseball-sized, softball-sized or even larger. Getting hit with hail can be injurious—anything from a sharp sting to severe head trauma, causing death. Of course, it can damage your vehicle as well.
Downed power lines: Downed power lines can result from high straight-line winds or tornadoes. Once the weather has passed, the downed power lines don’t go away and represent the threat of electrocution, both at the line itself or in surrounding conducting material (like water from rains).

Stranded: To be stranded while chasing is really bad. Think about it. You’re near a severe storm, but you have no way to avoid what the storm has got in store for you. You could be hit by severe hail or a tornado. Flat tires, faulty batteries, lack of gas, all of these things can place you on the side of the road, many times a rural dirt road with minimal patrols, if any.

Flash Flooding: Severe thunderstorms include a lot of torrential rain it their cores, potentially flooding low-lying channels (like between two hills), intensifying the speed of flow.

Straight-line winds: Rear-flank downdraft and other strong winds are extremely common with severe thunderstorms. I have experienced winds in excess of 60 mph, winds that can knock down tree limbs or uproot trees altogether, though, thankfully, the winds I experienced were on the flat plains with no trees nearby.

Automobile accidents: When you’re chasing a severe thunderstorm you really are *chasing*. This can cause vehicular accidents, especially with a mix of chasers and freaked out locals. In addition, when you are chasing, you will spend several hours each day driving on federal and state highways. It is dangerous to drive for a long period of time, causing fatigue that will affect driving alertness once the chase has started late in the day.

Tornadoes: Although not as much a threat as you might think, tornadoes themselves are dangerous, as we all know from the news lately. While chasers have many ways to avoid tornadoes (I’ll address that in a later post), the truth is they can get caught in the wrong place at the wrong time just like anybody else. The chance of this happening greatly increase when the tornado is not easily seen (due to buildings, trees, hills, etc.), or weather equipment fails.

Rain-wrapped tornadoes: Particularly dangerous are tornadoes that become “rain-wrapped”—surrounded by a curtain of rain such that they cannot be seen. Special measures need to be taken to avoid these tornadoes in this case.

Lack of visibility: Obstructions such as buildings, trees and hills can add danger, because avoidance of tornadoes can rely on visual surveillance. Thus, chasing in towns, forests, or hilly terrain presents a real danger. But a greater danger is chasing at night, visibility only available from lightning flashes. Fortunately, all of these storms have lightning, but some more than others.

Losing your data signal: If you rely only on 3G for your chasing, you run the risk of becoming "blind" when you lose the signal. A rain-wrapped tornado and/or lack of visibility will compound the problem enormously.

Next post: How to avoid storm chasing dangers