That looks like fun

They were still a good 100 yards from the core of rotation.

Also, this tornado was passing over recently plowed fields, thus kicking up a lot of dirt and debris that make it look bigger than it would if it were passing over urban areas, or wooded/grassy terrain.

I've been closer to a couple EF2's and one EF3-4 in my old Acura Integra than these guys were to that tornado in their bloody tank.

/Then again, I used to do crazy things like that.
//Not recommended for anyone who wants to live to describe the experience.

LoneVVolf: Anyone have this from a video player that works?

It would not load for me in Firefox, but worked OK with Chrome. ...

ttc2301: wmoonfox: Those guys are jackholes. They drive that monster down rutted country roads and routinely get stuck, blocking traffic in both directions, while people are trying to flee to safety and emergency crews are trying to get to victims, just so they can get a few pictures.

THIS.

I look for the day when stormchasers roll into a freshly destroyed neighborhood and are immediately strung up on general principle.

/weather snuff porn
//people die from this shiat
///no...chasers don't help with the warning process

Yes, chasers routinely are the first to call in tornado sightings, with the ability to give much more information to emergency management officials than your average caller, civilian, officer, or even most trained spotters.

Teams equipped with mobile doppler can get a much more detailed and faster response than fixed location single source radar, thus being able to tell EMS where a doppler indicated tornado is or is not.

The guys in Team VORTEX, TIV2, TWISTEX and others also carry a medically certified first responder with them, and even Reed Timmons and his crew even have a Medevac helicopter on call to dispatch.

I strongly suggest you watch some of the episodes of Storm Chasers (which you can watch for free on the Discovery Channel) and you can see where they have saved lives, and also have abandoned their chases when they come across any damage that includes a home or business with people inside. When that happens they GO and HELP.

They are anything but "In the way"

/I will concede that a lot of chasers *ARE* just thrill seekers, and they are in way, and dangerous, also useless. This includes "paid tornado hunting vacation" type schemes. Screw those guys. I used to be one, until I came across my first body hanging over what was left of a tree.. with a small child trying to "wake up daddy".

//Blue Ash, Ohio 1999. It was the F4 I mentioned upthread.

Hester Prynne: Joplin.

My apartment:

[a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net image 640x480]

Dear gods. It never ceases to amaze me how pretty much nothing but wind can turn an entire home and its contents into little more than debris. Just bits, pieces, and fragments. :(

ttc2301: Apparently, you are different than the many glory hounds that I've encountered over time. Apologies if you are...

When I was 1 I was injured in the 1974 Super Outbreak. Growing up on a farm, and finding pieces of debris many years later out in the fields fascinated me... and I was hooked from a very young age.

I chased for the thrill of it, but never "in town" anywhere. Became a trained spotter in 1990, and I have called in a few. Been in 7 tornadoes now, 4 of them somewhat intentionally, but I am also there to help if someone needs it.

I stopped doing it the same time the movie Twister came out, because I figured it would bring out a bunch of thrill seekers and people doing stupid crap... and I was right.

I am pursuing a career in Emergency Management Information Dissemination, which is a long title for "How to make sure warnings and information is getting to the right people at the right time, and how to make them more meaningful, so there are less false alarms, and people pay more attention.

After seeing my first fatality from a tornado (one I was not chasing, as it was in the middle of the night) on my way home one night, I stopped chasing altogether.

wmoonfox: Yes, storm chasers serve a purpose, and I have the utmost respect for spotters and their support teams. These guys, though, are in it to get some pictures, and they put others in danger to accomplish this. Fark them.

I've never seen them get the Dominator or TIV2 stuck in the mud and back up anything other than their own support vehicles.

In fact, the colleges that sponsor them have once threatened to pull support because of one scene where they were passing a line of vehicles approaching a rain wrapped tornado that the others could not see. They are VERY careful not to put themselves in situations where they would be a hinderance to anyone trying to get to, or away, from a tornado.

If you have seen otherwise, let me know. I would be interested in seeing that.

They made a LOT of good changes to the way they operate since last years super-outbreak.

DeathByGeekSquad: That's the TIV, not 'The Tank'.

Came here to say this. Sean Casey would not be pleased to have his vehicle misnamed.

wmoonfox: Shadow Blasko: If you have seen otherwise, let me know. I would be interested in seeing that.

It was an episode of Storm Chasers, and it was the TIV. They took it down a narrow dirt road that was being washed out by the heavy rains. There was a line of traffic behind them, and people coming the other direction were having to move off the road to allow them past. Eventually, they bottomed out in a muddy rut, stopping traffic in both directions. The guy running things was more upset that he was going to lose a chance to get his HD shot than by the fact that he had stranded dozens of people in harm's way. That was the day I stopped watching that show.

I believe the line of traffic behind them were their own chase vehicles, Doghouse and such.

Here's the TIV and the DOW (Doppler on Wheels)

wmoonfox: Shadow Blasko: If you have seen otherwise, let me know. I would be interested in seeing that.

It was an episode of Storm Chasers, and it was the TIV. They took it down a narrow dirt road that was being washed out by the heavy rains. There was a line of traffic behind them, and people coming the other direction were having to move off the road to allow them past. Eventually, they bottomed out in a muddy rut, stopping traffic in both directions. The guy running things was more upset that he was going to lose a chance to get his HD shot than by the fact that he had stranded dozens of people in harm's way. That was the day I stopped watching that show.

Stuck in the mud in Texas (new window) but there were no cars around.

I recall an episode of this past season when they were chasing in Mississippi, and got stuck on wet clay, and there was a real hassle getting out, but they were still far from the storm, and missed all the action. Sean Casey (the IMAX guy) was super pissed about it. I don't recall any traffic other than the support team though.

I'm not saying you are wrong, but people "trying to get out of harms way" should not be driving away from a tornado anyway. It's stupid to try to escape the storm path in a car. so I don't see how anyone would be in danger.