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Local storm chaser is mesmerized by nature's wonders

by Kathy Hagood
Brevard Technical Journal

While many prefer to stay out of way of storms, some are drawn by the beauty and science of a twisting tornado to storm chasing as strongly as Dorothy was to the majesty of the Emerald City.
Modern technology, includ-ing laptops, global positioning system receivers and radio scanners, assist the hobbyists in their chase, which is most often made in the Tornado Alley states of Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas.

While tornados form in many other states, the plains region typically spawns the most well-formed tornados, worth chasing, watching and photographing.

Chris Kridler, a space and technology reporter for FLORIDA TODAY, first got interested in storm chasing in 1996 after watching the movie “Twister.” The movie played fast and loose with scientific facts for better dramatic effect. A televised Nova special on storm chasing heightened Kridler’s interest and gave her a more accurate picture of the pursuit, she said.

“Twister is really over the top and misleading about what storm chasing is really all about, but it did introduce the idea to many people who are now veteran storm chasers,” Kridler said.

Kridler learned about early storm chasers including Howie Bluestein who helped popularize the avocation. The earliest chasers got their start in the 1940s and 1950s relying on little but their eye and their gut to track storms.

Her first foray into the chasing scene was signing up in spring of 1997 for a storm chasing tour offered by Cloud 9 Tours. Although Kridler didn’t see a classic tornado whirling across the plains on her adventure, she did get enough of a taste of storm chasing to be “hooked.”

“It’s mesmerizing to watch a storm system form. Tornados are wonders of nature,” she said.
After her first tornado tour, Kridler began chasing on her own, networking with other storm chasers and learning as much as she could about the formation of supercells. She’s been able to defray some of the costs of her hobby by selling awe-inspiring video and still photographs of storm systems and tornados.
“Few people can make a living by storm chasing, but I have been fortunate enough to be able to sell my work,” she said.

Over the past few years, technologies have improved to assist storm chasers. One of the most popular new technologies is the Baron Mobile ThreatNet software, called WxWorx, used with a data receiver. The software name is pronounced "weather works.”

WxWorx provides chasers with up-to-the-minute weather data, including storm tracking that is broadcast via XM WX Satellite Weather, a national provider of mobile weather data.

While Kridler is waiting for the price of the technology to come down, her current technology arsenal she takes on yearly trips to the plains includes

• Laptop computer equipped with a wireless card, which enables her to tap into forecasting data online

• Second laptop equipped with a Global Positioning System receiver and navigation software

• CB weather radio for hearing local weather reports of the National Weather Service

• Phone for checking with other storm chasers with better technology

• Radio scanner for picking up talk by storm spotters and other chasers

• Digital sling psychrometer, a small portable device that measures temperature, humidity and dew point

• Digital video camera for recording weather phenomena

• Digital and film still cameras and photo accessories

Kridler hasn’t yet aquired her ham radio license so she doesn’t employ a ham radio. Many other chasers use ham to communicate, she said.

Like most chasers, Kridler begins her chasing days by checking out National Weather Service information on the Internet. Many hotels and some truck stops along Tornado Alley offer wireless Internet. Satellite and radar maps available online hint of brewing storms.

Kridler also uses her eyes to spot building cumulus cloud towers that can be the first stage of the beginning of a storm supercell. The National Weather Service offers a Skywarn training course for those wanting to learn how to detect storm features and volunteer as a storm spotter.

Because driving across the plains to locate storms takes time Kridler carries an iPod to entertain herself with. She and other chasers typically drive thousands of miles each week during the peak storm-chasing season.
“It’s a lot like war, hours of boredom and then a frenzy of activity,” she said.
It can also be dangerous. Kridler has survived two heavy hailstorms that battered her sport utility vehicles. The last hailstorm cracked her windshield.

“I should have known better than to get caught in the middle of a hailstorm and I don’t plan to make that mistake again,” she said.

For more information on storm chasing, visit Kridler’s site at www.skydiary.com

For more information on the Baron Mobile ThreatNet software, WxWorx, visit www.wxworx.com