Storm chasing: It’s critical, profitable — and dangerous

Associated Press

OKLAHOMA CITY

While most people take shelter when a tornado approaches, a growing throng heads for the prairies, be they scientists hoping to protect the public from a twister’s fury or amateurs armed with little more than a smartphone, a digital camera and a desire to sell 15 seconds of video to the nightly news.

But the deaths of three respected researchers near Oklahoma City have renewed questions over whether the risk of dashing off into violent storms in Tornado Alley is too great — regardless of the adrenaline rush.

“I think there will be some who will step back and say, ‘Am I really doing something safe here?’” said Michael Armstrong, a meteorologist for KWTV in Oklahoma City.

Longtime storm chasers Tim Samaras, his son Paul and colleague Carl Young were killed Friday when a powerful tornado near El Reno, Okla., turned on them as they were conducting research. The National Weather Center issued a statement saying they are likely the first “storm intercept fatalities” among researchers.

Oklahoma is considered the “mecca of storm chasing,” Tim Samaras told National Geographic just last month, and there are often hundreds of storm chasers lining the roads. Seasoned storm trackers provide critical field data that can’t be gleaned from high-powered Doppler radar, veteran meteorologists say. But they’re increasingly competing with storm-chasing tours, amateur weather enthusiasts inspired by cable TV shows and tornado paparazzi speeding from storm to storm.

Samaras’ colleagues said he took numerous safety precautions, spending hours looking at weather models and developing safe escape routes and rendezvous points.

“Storm chasing isn’t about what you see on TV. It’s about forecasting and safety preparation,” said Ben McMillan, a storm chaser from Des Moines, Iowa, who teamed up in 2011 with Samaras and Ed Grubb of Thornton, Colo., for the Discovery Channel show “Storm Chasers.”

Samaras also usually drove a three-quarter-ton truck with a reinforced lining, Grubb said, but had a smaller truck last week because he was on a three-week research trip focused mostly on lightning.

Many amateur storm chasers are looking to capture heart-pounding video of a massive, dangerous twister and cash in by selling the footage to TV stations or documentary filmmakers. TV stations and news outlets generally pay up to $500 to use certain video.

Lanny Dean, a 23-year veteran storm chaser from Tulsa, Okla., charges up to $3,500 to give tourists a 10-day tour during the March-through-June storm season. He said he’s seen the industry change dramatically with the rise of TV programs documenting deadly storms. “There are more and more people out there on the road. Many of them should not be,” he said. Dean and seven of his tourists found themselves near El Reno last week on the jam-packed roads when the deadly twisters began to drop from the sky.

Friday’s storm was particularly treacherous because the rotation was wrapped in rain, made frequent sudden turns and spawned multiple tornadoes. At least 18 people died, including several who were in their vehicles when the tornado hit.

Despite their colleagues’ deaths, both Grubb and McMillan said they would continue chasing storms .