Well that's the blog set up...

19th May 2008

So what's it all about?

In a nutshell, chasing storms across the Great Plains of the USA, an area commonly known as Tornado Alley. I've been once before in May 2006 on an organised tour with Storm Chasing Adventure Tours (SCAT) http://www.stormchasing.com/ There are a number of companies specialising in this type of adventure holiday (Google "storm chasing" and you'll find a selection such as Silverlining Tours and Tempest Tours). I chose SCAT as they teamed up with Dr Josh Wurman from the Centre for Severe Weather Research http://www.cswr.org/contents/joshuawurman.htm. If you've ever watched a storm documentary, you'll have seen him in his mobile weather radar truck, the Doppler On Wheels, or DOW. I figured this must give SCAT an edge, so I paid the extra and went with them. I'll mention the highlights of the 2006 tour over the next few days, suffice to say I've booked with them again and fly out to Denver at the end of May.

Before, I crack on with this blog, there are some things you need to know. Storm chasing is:

1. Dangerous (unless you really know what you're doing or go on a reputable tour)
2. Expensive (£2k all in including airfare, not to mention all the camera stuff I "just had to have")
3. Exhausting (try 3500 miles in 6 days)
4. Frustrating (you should see storms, you'll be lucky to see a tornado)
5. Thrilling when it all kicks off. It is a "chase" after all

So do you need to be a real weather geek to go storm chasing? The answer is "no" with a caveat. The more you know about how these "supercell" storms form, characteristics of tornadoes, the geography of the Plains (hint: flat) and the history of epic tornadoes the more context you'll get, and the more you will get out of it. Watch the documentaries, read books and of course use the Internet. There are many experienced storm chasers who really know their stuff, you'll find them hanging out at places like http://www.stormtrack.org/forum/. If I'm honest, I'm not a weather geek at all, and most of the meteorology goes way over my head.

Over the next three weeks I'll be going over the build up to the tour, talking about my experiences in 2006, and from 30th May, giving a daily update of life in Tornado Alley.

Cheers
Adam