If you grew up in the 2000’s and watched Discovery Channel, you’ve probably seen an episode or two of Storm Chasers and wondered “is that safe?” The answer is complicated: storm chasing is both safe, but also dangerous.

In order to really grasp the concept of whether or not this hobby is safe, we have to define what storm chasing entails and what it is defined as. Storm chasing is defined as “the activity of traveling to a location where a tornado or other severe weather event is taking place with the purpose to study or photograph it.” With that in mind, we’ll stick with storm chasing tornadoes in particular, as this is the most popular type of storm chasing.

Chasing tornadoes often involves long hours on the road, at times with little sleep if the chaser has been chasing for days at a time. Being on the road leads to an increased likelihood of vehicular accidents, which some chasers have argued is the most dangerous part of storm chasing. These long haul treks can lead to drowsy driving by chasers, and even at the best of times and the best of circumstances, drivers cannot control other drivers on the road. Ignoring the statistics around auto accidents and chasers, there is still the actual weather phenomena to consider. Tornadoes can be rain wrapped - obscured by rain, therefore invisible to chasers, or they can be perfectly visible. They can be slow, or they can move 60+ mph. Their paths can be predicted, but historically deviant moving tornadoes have resulted in chaser deaths before.

Why, then, could storm chasing be considered safe? The answer is simple: many potential issues with a chase can be forecast in advance by skilled and experienced chasers, meaning that chasers will be able to know within a margin of error if the tornado will be obscured by rain, have deviant motion, or be fast moving. The key words here are “skilled”, and “experienced”; many storm chasers are also meteorologists, or have studied meteorology enough to learn how to forecast dangerous tornado set-ups, and will prepare accordingly. Chasers with this experience often are seasoned and have learned to maintain situational awareness within close proximity to tornadoes, and will bail on a chase if they deem it too dangerous. They have the knowledge to make the right decisions under pressure that amateur chasers simply do not. This doesn’t mean every seasoned chaser will automatically be safe during a chase, as evidenced by the El Reno 2013 event that took the lives of the TWISTEX crew, but there have only been a handful of chaser incidents where the tornado itself has been directly involved in injury or death.

With this in mind, storm chasing is a hobby that could be incredibly dangerous, or perfectly safe; it is a nuanced topic of discussion with reasonable arguments on both sides. It is up to the individual to weigh the risks/benefits of storm chasing, learn all they can about staying safe, and do their best to implement best practices.

For more information on how to storm chase safely, consider signing up for Storm Chaser Coaching’s “Storm Chasing 101” course. For only $4 a month, you will gain access to lectures, modules, podcasts, videos, lessons in forecasting severe weather events, eBooks such as Eight Rules for Storm Chasing Safely, and more!