The Chase: What to Expect

[ Watch video clips from past expeditions ]

On a StormHighway guided chase expedition, you are truly in control of your trip! Dan, your guide, is there to advise you on forecasting, data and storm intercept strategy, but it is entirely up to you on how you wish to carry out the chase. Your chase expedition can be whatever you want it to be - your guide is there to ensure that you have the greatest chance to be successful. The following page answers many common questions about our guided storm chasing expeditions. Be sure to also read our in-depth frequently asked questions about storm chasing!

What will we chase?

By default, Dan will focus on the forecasting and successful intercept of supercells and tornadoes. On days when the chances of tornadoes are slim but storms still fire, you may choose instead to try for lightning, storm structure and cloud photography if you wish. The chase expedition objectives are up to you - while we normally chase for tornadoes, Dan will accomodate the pursuit of any weather phenomena you are interested in witnessing.

On a StormHighway guided chase expedition, our chase range is anywhere that you are willing to go to find storms!

The area known as 'Tornado Alley' is typically thought of as being strictly the flat prairies of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska and the Dakotas (the "Great Plains"). While most springtime chases do end up being in those areas, tornado chasing actually can be done anywhere between the Rockies and the Appalachians, including the midwest, Ohio and Mississippi Valley regions, the Ozarks and the high plains / front range of the Rockies. In other words, you can chase across a big portion of the country! Dan has intercepted tornadoes from Illinois to Colorado to South Dakota as well as in the Plains (statistically speaking, most of his tornadoes have been in Kansas). As long as the right atmospheric ingredients come together, tornadoes and severe storms can happen virtually anywhere.

The Great Plains of the central USA by far gives you the most "bang for your buck" - that is, for any given chase day from April to June, you're more likely to see a tornado or nice supercell there. But sometimes the setups for storms will stray outside of the traditional "tornado alley" - into Illinois or Indiana, for example. If such a setup happens during your guided expedition, we'll leave the choice up to you as to whether you want to make the extra drive 'outside the Plains'.

While Dan will make a forecast and recommend a chase target each day, it is up to you on how far you wish to drive. Some weather patterns require successive long drives to get into position. For instance, a chase in north Texas may be followed by another great setup in Nebraska the next day. If you are up to the drive, by all means, go for it! But if you'd rather skip a day and wait for something closer, you're welcome to make that choice as well.

On a typical chase expedition, expect to drive 500 to 700 miles (or more) every day. On even the most slow-paced storm chasing trips, you will be in the vehicle for long periods of time, so be prepared for a lot of time on the road.

Sleep schedule: Since chasing usually requires a lot of travel time, we normally need to be awake and on the road by 9 or 10 AM on a chase day. Some days may require an earlier wake-up if we have a longer drive to make, while others will find us very close to the day's target and able to sleep in! It is important for the driver to get a good night's rest, so we do our best to ensure that we get settled into a hotel by midnight. Depending on the drive time to our next day's target, we may opt to drive a little farther after our chase is over for the night before getting a hotel.

Meals: Breakfast and sometimes lunch are the only normal meals we'll have time for on a typical chase. Dinnertime (late afternoon) is also prime time for storms - and since we'll be in 'active chase mode' then until well after dark, dinner will usually be postponed until very late at night. If we are in a remote rural area, restaurants may not even be open by the time we finish chasing. In those cases, we may have to settle for a light snack in leu of dinner. It is often a good idea to bring some snack foods (such as granola or meal bars) for those types of scenarios.

Your role in the storm forecasting and intercept process is entirely up to you. You can opt to just let Dan do all of the forecasting and navigation, leaving you to to just relax, drive, and enjoy the sights in the skies. Or maybe you're interested in 'learning the ropes' of storm chasing for yourself. In that case, Dan can teach you the basics of forecasting and chasing principles, and even give you the opportunity to have a part in the daily process.

The choice of hotels is up to you. As a seasoned storm chaser, Dan is quite used to a wide spectrum of hotel accomodations, from the budget rooms to nicer suites. You are free to choose a lower-end hotel to save money if you wish. The benefit of having our mobile internet access is that it is not necessary for us to find a hotel that has WIFI internet service, which can be another money-saver. Keep in mind that many times, choices of hotels are limited in rural areas late at night. It is also usually not possible to make reservations in advance or book rooms for multiple nights, since we will be moving around greatly from day to day.

Nonetheless, Dan can attempt to reserve the rooms from the vehicle using the internet, if we know a few hours in advance where we will be staying.

You may bring anything you wish on your guided chase tour - after all, it is your expedition! You're free to bring what you normally would for any vacation or 'road trip', but we recommend the following travel items for maximum practicality and comfort on a storm chasing trip:

• Small duffel bag with 4 or 5 sets of clothes - Big suitcases can be cumbersome, especially with more than two people in one vehicle. Remember you'll have to carry your personal items in and out of a hotel room every day, so the smaller and more compact, the better. Most hotels will have washers and dryers that we can use on occasion, so you'll be able to get by just fine with just a few changes of clothes.
   
• Clothing for both warm and cool weather - Most of our days will be spent in very warm, humid conditions - so you'll want to dress accordingly. Shorts/jeans and t-shirts are usually the way to go. Bring some long pants and a light jacket or pullover, as occasionally the post-storm environment can cool off substantially - particularly at night. Don't wear anything you don't want getting rain-soaked, muddy, dusty and dirty - as we'll likely encounter at least one of those conditions almost every day!
   
• Camera and tripod - Whether you shoot stills, video or both - you'll definately want a camera to record what will be memories of a lifetime! Don't forget extra batteries, chargers, tapes, film and/or memory cards. Dan can temporarily offload digital photo memory cards to the laptop to give you more capacity.
   
• Sunscreen and insect repellent - Bright sunlight is plentiful on the Great Plains, but unfortunately so are mosquitoes.

If all seats in your vehicle will be occupied, you may need to use a rooftop cargo carrier for luggage. We own a soft Thule carrier for vehicles with roof rails, included at no extra charge if it becomes necessary.

Dan will bring along the following items that need space reserved in your vehicle:

• Laptop and carrying case
• "Jotto desk" swivel platform for laptop
• Portable power inverter console with outlet strip
• Video camera and tripod
• WxWorx satellite antenna and cable
• Cellular aircard and router
• First aid kit and medicine/emergency bag
• Personal duffel bag

In a nutshell, the area in and around the front passenger seat (including the dashboard) should be reserved for the tour guide and related gear, with a little space for the other items listed above in either the trunk or the rear seats.

Chasing storms with an experienced chaser is by far the safest way to go. With the abundance of realtime weather data that we'll have access to, your guide will not only be able to get you to the right storm, but keep you out of harm's way. And since Dan is a passenger rather than a driver, he can devote his full attention to navigation and data monitoring - leaving the driver to dedicate their full attention to the road.

Unfortunately, the weather is completely out of our control, and some days there will simply be nothing to chase! On days when storms don't occur or are out of our driving range (what we would call a 'down day'), the day's activities are up to you. The Great Plains are full of things to do and places to see - historic landmarks, scenic areas and museums. Or maybe you'd rather just relax at the hotel for a day - the choice is yours.

If you choose to depart from our home base in West Virginia, the drive to the doorstep of the Great Plains takes roughly 12 hours. While that may sound like a long distance, it is actually quite a productive and interesting part of the trip. This initial leg of the journey gives Dan plenty of time to make sure all of the equipment is installed and functioning properly in your vehicle, long before we get into the 'heat of the chase'. Dan can also use some of this time to give you a 'primer course' on chasing and severe weather forecasting and interception techniques. Furthermore, we'll pass by landmarks like downtown Louisville and the St. Louis Gateway Arch, and usually we'll have time for you to stop and get a few photos.

If you'd rather skip this leg of the expedition, you may opt to fly into a Great Plains city such as Dallas, Kansas City, Amarillo, Wichita, Oklahoma City, Denver or Omaha. In that case, all you'll need is to provide round-trip air transportation for Dan and his chasing equipment to meet you at whichever destination you choose. Dan's chasing gear will require two additional full-size checked bags, in addition to the standard carry-on and checked baggage.

We've found that for a chase expedition, driving to the Plains is often more economical and convenient than flying - particularly when you consider airport check-in, security, luggage and gear transport. In some cases, driving actually gets us there faster!

If Dan has tours booked adjacent to yours and is already 'on location' in the Plains, we can arrange a meeting point closer to our chase target.