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On the Scent: By Al Lesar South Bend Tribune Staff Writer (University of Mobile Associate Professor of Biology Steve Carey spent two weeks leading storm-chasing tours in America’s Tornado Alley, posting blogs about his adventures at www.umobile.edu/stormchaser. South Bend (Indiana) Tribune Assistant Sports Editor Al Lesar participated in one of Carey’s trips. Lesar was given a weeklong storm-chasing trip for his birthday. Here is Lesar’s account of the trip, published in the May 24, 2009 issue of the South Bend Tribune, along with photographs taken by Carey which accompanied the newspaper article, reprinted here with permission.)
Stand alone in an Oklahoma wheat field long after sundown. Feel a stiff wind go from cool and dry to warm and moist, then back to cool and dry. Smell the storm. Watch a stunning show of lightning cover a 180-degree panorama in the billowing sky. And try to say God doesn’t exist. Cue the music - maybe the South Bend Symphony’s Pops at the Cove. Most people don’t have the time or inclination to experience that side of nature. It’s a primal meeting with one of the most powerful, mystifying and magical forces on earth. Six days as part of a 12-person storm chasing excursion through Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico can open eyes and validate beliefs. It’s more than just driving 2,930 miles through every podunk, one-horse town on the open range. It’s taking the time to smell the air, appreciate the brush strokes of color and witness the churning fury of a storm - with awe rather than fear. Six storms in six days - a storm chaser’s perfect week - including two wedge tornadoes barely visible because of their late-night arrival, two funnels that never made it to the ground, and a textbook supercell that sprawled its demonic appearance over an entire Texas county. Toss in an oil refinery fire started by a lightning strike and viewings of the prairie wildlife - from antelope to horned frogs and everything in between - in their natural habitat, and it made for the ideal adventure. Setting the stage Paint drying. Grass growing. Clouds forming. All tedious processes, though none more intriguing than watching serenity spawn devastating power. Heat, moisture, wind and pressure are the elements that make a storm pop. Knowledge, patience, ingenuity and resourcefulness help a chaser chase. Todd Thorn, owner and leader of Storm Chasing Adventure Tours of Bozeman, Mont., has been relentlessly combing the Central Plains - from the Mexican border to South Dakota - for 13 years. Chase vehicles (two, three or four, depending on the size of the tour), equipped with the latest high-tech weather-forecasting equipment, comprise the caravan. Tours, which run in May and June, start in Amarillo, Texas, early in the season, then in Denver later. The nomadic experience begins on a Saturday night with a mandatory safety meeting - Rule No. 1: Always listen to Todd; Rule No. 2: Never lean on the vehicle when there’s lightning. Steve Carey, a biology professor from the University of Mobile (Ala.), and Peter Wharton, a business consultant from New Zealand - both storm-chasing junkies and knowledgeable weather guys - share the driving in the second van on this trip. They have the expertise to go with their enthusiasm. The chase begins Sunday at 9 a.m., the chase begins. Not long into the adventure it becomes evident that a chaser’s routine is, well …, no routine at all. Nothing deters from the chase - eat, drink, bathroom breaks. During the actual chase, speed limits are merely suggestions. Chasers think of storms as gifts or prizes, things of beauty, not as potentially destructive forces. Chasers act like fishermen, secretly creeping into their special spot on the lake where they plan on landing the big one. Thorn takes his tours seriously. Extensive research, familiarity with the terrain and weather patterns, and gut instinct all help him get to the right spot at the right time. When The Weather Channel’s Vortex 2 armada of vehicles and weather experts and The Discovery Channel’s TIV (Tornado Intercept Vehicle) all show up at the same spot, it’s a sign that Thorn knows what he’s doing. From a one-day loop near the Mexican border to a swing north to Oklahoma, just shy of the Kansas line, all of the best hot spots were explored. From nothing … A few wisps of clouds were the only clutter in an afternoon sky over central Texas. Bad luck for chasers? Thorn, Wharton and Carey were salivating. They saw the models. They recognized the conditions. Temperature: low 90s. Dew point: 65 percent. Winds: 30 mph. Upper atmosphere conditions were favorable. They knew those little wisps were going to grow. Stir all those factors together for four hours and those little wisps evolved into a massive tempest that was unleashing its fury on the prairie. The storm rolled on and the chasers followed. Lightning lit up the absolute darkness. Nature’s majesty was at its peak. There comes a time, even for a chaser, when beauty gives way to reality. After a 90-minute drive to Erick, Okla., to get ready for the next day’s best opportunity, we discovered our reserved roadside hotel had been in the path of the storm and power was knocked out. No lights. No air conditioning. No SportsCenter. How’d the pioneers do it? Facts of chasing More tornadoes in the United States happen within a 100-mile radius of Lubbock, Texas, than anywhere else - not exactly something its Chamber of Commerce would like to note. Most tornadoes happen between 7 and 10 p.m. That makes the storm chaser a nocturnal beast through the backroads of tornado alley. Unless there’s a long drive that couldn’t have been done the night before, storm chasing doesn’t begin until late morning. By mid-afternoon, there’s usually some downtime while the experts examine the data to pinpoint the proper course. Best viewing on the north side of the storm or the south? Which way could it turn? Texas is better than Oklahoma for viewing. Too many trees in the Sooner State. Texas is flat and open. Stay away from big cities. Stoplights are a chaser’s enemy. Once the chase is on, it’s on. Better have gas in the vehicle, snacks in the backpack and an iron bladder. Only the adrenaline is allowed to flow. Storms have no curfew. They’re over when they’re over. A purpose “After this experience, you realize that every cloud in the sky has a purpose; there’s a reason behind each of them,” Wharton said. “Moisture, temperature, condensation. So much goes into just one cloud. When you get back from this, you never look at the sky the same as you did before.” That’s not the only thing. Follow the life cycle of a storm on the prairie and understand the deeper meaning. Look straight up at that massive, constantly swirling supercell and recognize the insignificance. Who’s in control now? Nature is the embodiment of ultimate power and consummate beauty. Cue the music.
Last modified :
Thursday, June 25, 2009 0:11 AM
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