People often ask me if I have ever chased a tornado. When they find out that I have their next question is what was it like? Well, think of the most exciting sporting event that you have ever watched. You know, the one that keeps you on the edge of your seat to the very end of the game. Multiply that by ten and you begin to know the thrill of the chase.

You have to understand that the tornado is just one part of the whole picture. When you are near a tornado the whole atmosphere is in motion. The air for miles around is rushing into the thunderstorm to help create the storm and tornado. There is the flash of lightning and crash of thunder. The clouds within the storm are in motion and constantly changing. One minute the scene can awe-inspiring, then be frightening the next minute.

Words do not do justice in describing the scene. You have to be there to appreciate how dynamic the atmosphere can be. The adrenaline rush is like an addiction; once you see it up close, you want more.

Many of you have seen the movie Twister (my favorite) or other movies of a similar vane. This movie came close to representing what it was like and probably as close as you will come in a movie. Of all of the tornadoes in the movie the one that hit the drive-in movie theater at night was the most realistic in my opinion. Been there, seen that.

I remember many of the chases that I pursued. There was always something unexpected when encountering severe weather. However, my last chase before moving to Columbia was my most memorable. I knew that this would be my chase, so I decided to go for broke. I had experienced storms mainly by staying out of them and photographing from a distance. This time I penetrated the core of the storm. I was not completely prepared for what followed.

A line of thunderstorms was moving rapidly east across southern Kansas. I raced down I-35 to get south of the line. The storms blew past me to the north and I moved west along the Kansas-Oklahoma border on the Kansas side. Nothing was happening so I decided to stop and observed for a while.

More thunderstorms began to form to the north on the outflow boundary from the previous line of storms. Meanwhile a second line began to form to the west. The lightning began to increase near the intersection of the two lines. The sun had set and I knew my chase time was coming to an end so I decided to head for the intersection and punch into the storm.

Bad move! As I enter near the intersection of the lines I was leaving a small town heading north. Lightning was popping all around me. It always bothered me to see the flash of lightning and hear the thunder at the same time. The lightning was hitting on either side of the road. It reminded me of scenes from Star Wars during the battle for the Death Star.

All of a sudden hail began pelting the car. I slowed down to a crawl trying not to lose the windshield. The hail was getting bigger and I was looking for a way to get off the road and ride out the storm. Finally, I spotted a farm house and pulled into the yard. The hail increased in size and intensity. One hailstone hit the seam between the door and roof of the car. The noise it made was enough to scare anybody and it left a big dent.

Finally, the hail subsided, but heavy rain followed and the farm yard was beginning to flood. It was time to leave so I pulled back onto the highway and continued north. I could not see the road due to the heavy rain; therefore I navigated looking out both sides of the car. Most highways in Kansas have drainage ditches on either sides of the road to help prevent flooding. All of a sudden the road became very rough like being on a gravel road, but this was a smooth road. I was amazed when I looked out the driver’s side window to see the road buried in hail.

I continued on for a quarter of a mile before I could get out of the hail. Lightning continued to flash around me even as the rain diminished. The frequency of the flash was equivalent to a strobe light which left me with a pounding headache.

It was reported that a tornado was spotted with this storm, but I never saw it. I was just happy to be alive and out of the storm. That was my last chase and I have not chased since that time. However, I still get the itch to chase now and then.

I have talked to a number of chasers and many have had similar experiences. Quite a few have had harrowing experiences. The years of chasing have not been risk-free. There has been at least one death due to a traffic accident and several have been struck by lightning. Please leave this stuff to the professionals. It is risky even for the best chaser.