There are several reasons why I chase storms, and I'll try my best to outline them here. You may be surprised with what is last on the list...

Two words pretty much describe the first and most important reason why I chase storms: beauty, awe. Seeing a small cumulus cloud develop all the way into an intense striated supercell with a strong tornado is absolutely beautiful to me. I've never been a religious person, but I believe that if there is a God then He reveals Himself in the beauty that is created in our atmosphere. In my mind trying to understand the scientific reasons behind this beauty is similar to trying to understand our own existence, or the existence of something greater. The word we have that best describes the feeling that the beauty leaves me with is "awe." You may be all alone in south central Montana staring at a beautifully striated supercell with a large, low rotating wall cloud, but trust me... you don't feel alone. Something else is there with you as complete and total amazement sweeps through your body and leaves you almost frozen. To be honest I'm not sure what that something else is; it may just be the storm itself... I don't know, but I love the feeling that I'm left with, whatever "it" is that causes the beauty and my dream-like state of awe.

The "beauty and awe" reason for stormchasing pretty much is why I spend so much time and energy trying to position myself to see supercells and tornadoes. This feeling seems to be enhanced when chasing alone, which is why I often choose to do so. It is also why I may sometimes choose a target area in a location where I think less chasers will be, as a long convoy of flashing lights and other chasers flying towards a storm in a fierce battle to get closest ruins this feeling for me. In fact I refuse to chase with people who appear to be in it for the adrenaline rush, as this is the smallest reason why I chase storms. Constantly driving in circles and always trying to reposition closest to a current tornado or potential future tornado drives me crazy. I often just want to take a deep breath and enjoy things, and some chasers never do that, not even for a minute. Many are all about getting close, feeling the power, and getting the money shot or video... I don't hold it against them as they are free to do what they like as long as they aren't endangering others, but I do feel sorry for them sometimes... They miss a lot.

My second reason for chasing storms is very much related to the first, and deals with scientific curiosity and a love for meteorology and the way our atmosphere works. For me the stormchase begins several days before the actual chase day, as I combine observational data with output from numerical models in an attempt to determine the most likely area for a potential severe weather event. I also try my best to forecast the nature of the event... Will there be supercells? Are strong tornadoes a possibility? Which boundaries will initiate storms? Will this be a multi-day severe weather outbreak? How and where should I position myself to increase my chances? Do the models seem reasonable? etc. etc.? Asking myself these questions and trying to figure things out is extremely interesting and exciting for me.

On the actual chase day I continue to try and figure things out scientifically. While approaching my target area I may try to decide if things have changed and I need to adjust my location. Perhaps the most interesting part of this process occurs when I find a supercell thunderstorm, and then begin to analyze... How healthy is this storm? Is it intensifying? Is the updraft tilting enough? Is the environment that the storm is moving into favorable? Is this storm riding a boundary? Could it potentially ride a boundary in the future? Should I leave this storm for other storms or towers somewhere else? etc. etc.? Using observational analysis combined with previous experience to make decisions is often overlooked by many chasers who keep their eyes glued to the laptop, even after they are on the storms. Your eyes can tell you much more than a computer screen when you are close to a storm, and I absolutely love this part of the experience... The potential for learning, understanding and reacting is greatest at this point, and tons of chasers seem to miss this point. A radar scans a storm at best every five minutes, where your eyes can continuously bring in far more information. I try my best to embrace and learn from situations when I'm near a storm, and I think doing so makes me a much better chaser.

Another reason deals with the whole concept of traveling and seeing the world. I've always loved to travel and explore, and to see how the world changes as you move from place to place. The landscape and geology change, and this is very interesting to me, as I love seeing the rolling green hills in eastern South Dakota, the gorgeous mesas in the Oklahoma Panhandle, the sand hills of northern Nebraska, and the rocky outcrops of SW Texas. Culture and people also change dramatically as you travel around, and this is quite interesting as well... Everything from the way people interact and think to their accents changes as you move around this country, and it's fun to observe these differences. It all just adds to the experience of stormchasing, and the best part is that this can be enjoyed even when your forecast busts, and there are no storms to chase.

That brings me to the smallest reason why I stormchase: getting an adrenaline rush. If all I cared about was the danger and associated thrills of stormchasing then I'd do something much less expensive and time consuming, like bungee jumping or sky diving. There will be times when I decide to meander fairly close to a tornado, and adrenaline inevitably always begins to kick in. If I do decide to get close to a tornado it is mostly just to observe and see the most intense part of the storm firsthand, and any associated adrenaline rush is just a secondary effect.

I do have to admit that there is a small part of me that sees stormchasing sort of as a sporting event... You make your forecast (or establish a game plan), and then start the game and react accordingly to almost an infinite amount of possible situations in an attempt to accomplish your goals. This sort of thinking does take over at times, and helps to boost your adrenaline rush, but the only players are myself and the atmosphere, and not the other chasers. If I do get competitive at all with other chasers it is on the forecasting basis, as it is fun sometimes to debate about potential target areas with other chasers. As far as when you are actually on the storms though, free will should determine what a chaser decides to try and see, and not competition.

Well, those reasons pretty much sum up why I am a stormchaser. You may notice that "protecting the public" is not on the list. I do feel that stormchasers are vitally important for this reason, and I try my best to help alert the public to possible dangers when the situation warrants it. And, no matter what, I will always help people in need before continuing on with a stormchase. But, I'd simply be lying if I declared this as a reason for why I chase storms... I take pride in helping the NWS verify and issue tornado warnings that may save lives, but even if this weren't the case I'd definitely still be a stormchaser. My love for the meteorology and beautiful, awe-inspiring atmospheric creations is primarily what drives me to chase storms, and I plan on doing it for as long as I'm alive.