So is there good money in Storm Chasing?
 

Just curious.

I a only ask because I'm watching the classic 'Twister' movie and Bill Paxton says his competitors "are only in it for the money, not the science"


Any big balla storm chasers in here?

:facepalm:

To some extent, sure. To use real-world examples, Sean Casey from the Discovery Channel show was doing it to make an IMAX movie. Money likely wasn't the MAIN reason he was doing it, but he wasn't really in it purely for the benefit of science and public safety. Compare that to Josh Wurman, who is a scientist trying to better understand how tornadoes work to better improve forecasting.

Obviously, though, 99% of storm chasers are probably just doing it for the thrill.

I don't believe a word that comes out of Bill Paxton's mouth, especially if he's saying that he's a good actor.

Bill Paxton is on my list of things I irrationally hate.


one of the worst actors ever.

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I swear this is like the tenth thread you have made about watching that awful movie. Yes I would rather read your threads than watch a second of it.

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Wow, this is truly reeruned.

Back to the original question, I hadn't thought about it before, but I bet there's good money in storm chasing if you do it right. In a really big storm you can probably find all sorts of stuff scattered on the ground, and there's also potential opportunities for looting.

HE HAD HIS MOMENTS.
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Don't know about big $$, but my son and I met Reed Timmer once. I didn't know it at the time, but he was/is apparently one of the top storm chasers. Discovery channel was his sponsor. We saw his badass storm chasing vehicle. Got his autograph.

That's all i got.

Oh, and...that Twister movie sucked.

I think Milton Bradley has had the best success

I knew this guy that used to hoop at the Southwest YMCA in Topeka. His name was Juston Drake. He did this show on the Weather Channel called Storm Riders. He lived in Oklahoma but spent time in the offseason (when not chasing storms) with his grandmother in Topeka. I'm pretty sure if memory serves that he hinted one time that he was making over 200k. And from talking to him I could tell that he wasn't in it for the money. This guy was passionate about meteorology. He was a great guy. Haven't seen him up there in at least a couple of years, though.

I saw a storm chaser truck going down I-70 last week with some wurly bird deal spinning around on the back of the cab and thought WTF? This is an actual business? It only caught my attention because I'm in the graphic arts field and I noticed the vehicle wrap.

A couple of car magnatized signs on your door and anyone is a storm chaser.

Want proof be around Wakeeney or Oakley Kansas when a super cell is heading thru western ks. They are everywhere.

Storm chasing can be expensive. Gas hotels ect..most of the top chasers you see
On tv are funded. You can make money with pictures and videos but you have to consistently be successful. I don't even think timmer is being funded now they have to sell picture video and merchandise and the money goes back into the business.

Please log that info in the link below.

http://www.chiefsplanet.com/BB/showthread.php?t=287968

I would actually disagree with his assessment. It's not irrational to hate Bill Paxton. It's actually quite logical.

Not if he hated him prior to deciding he was a shit actor.

Not really, not anymore for the most part. (OU grad in meteorology, been chasing for 15+ years)

You'll find the occasional story of making money--the Reed Timmers and such, but they go to an extreme end most of us care not to. Storm chase tours can, but that's only b/c there's people out there who see it kind of like a safari hunt: It's look cool on tv, they want to experience it, but they don't want to put the effort into learning skills behind it, so they pay someone to take them.

Most I made on a single video was $400. But with the rise of YouTube, etc., there's little reason for news stations to pay that anymore.

I don't chase as much as I used to, in part b/c every yahoo and their mom are running around trying to get extreme video for YouTube hits. They have zero respect for the storm, the rules of the road, or other people. Fortunately most of them stick to main roads, so when I chase anymore, I try to do as much back roads as possible.

Outside of photos, there isn't really a way to make money from storm chasing. However, if you have inside pull and you network well, you can get with a chase team that works in part with WeatherNation and get paid some money for the stream footage.

Bill Paxton has been killed by Terminator, Alien and Predator.

Twister was one of the movies that ruined me for movies.

And it's still not enough.

Jonas.....son of a bitch

If you're a carpenter or roofer....Yes.

But you have to do a boatload of meth

You can do fairly well if you have talent, especially if you pitch. It's not all that expensive to spectate either. Tickets, dogs and a beer will run about 25 bucks and you can usually grab a decent seat.

No. No there is not.

Well, ****...

Better money in robbing banks.
I'm looking for a getaway driver.

Especially the last few sentences. Too many people think this is a way to become famous. With so many on the road, it is a good way to die.

Deberg-look into Tornado tourism. People pay people to go twister chasing. Still a tough gig. If you are not interested in that-stay home.

Love the movie. As long as you can separate fact from movie. I had a former student that met the crew and stars. He liked Bill Paxton. Thought Helen Hunt was cold.

A comedian said "A twister can take an 18 penny nail out of a bridge but cannot take the top off Helen Hunt."

8th grade me got my first handjob while watching Twister at the AMC 20 in Independence. Love that movie!

BLM likes this ��

I always forget Phillip Seymour Hoffman was in Twister...holy shit...

Very few Storm Chasers actually make money and even fewer big money. Its expensive and the market is very saturated, especially in Tornado Alley. In some areas law enforcement is attempting to ban it due to the roads getting clogged and blocked with not only Storm Chasers, but leaches who chase the Storm Chasers. Most Chasers probably actually lose money in reality, with equipment, software, data cost, fuel, wear and tear on a car, and any pay you lose for taking time off your actual job.

Last sentence: yep.

The rest: As a chaser I would hate to see it banned, I don't see how they could actually enforce that since most cops/sheriffs are going to be focused on the storm (unless you're talking people in the way preventing them from getting where they need to be), but I understand the sentiment.

There are really four basic types of chasers: (1) people who do it for the science, (2) people who do it for public warning (e.g. spotters), (3) people with training and expertise in weather who do it for a hobby (like me, and it's still somewhat dangerous for us, case in point Oklahoma a few years back where Tim Samaras and co. got hit by that 2-mile wide beast), and (4) people who watched Twister or YouTube and think it looks fun (they should not be on the road during a storm).

I usually take a variety of people with me (people I know, they chip in for gas and help read the DeLorme maps). But when I do, I always tell them four things:

(1) Safety is our primary concern. I want to see a tornado as much if not more than they, but I'm not going to put myself or those around me in danger to do that.

(2) Do what I say, when I say it, with no questions asked. I'm the one with the experience and the understanding of storms--with #1 as my aim, if I say "jump" just start jumping don't even ask "how high."

(3) You can only freak out when you see my freak out. Again, see #1. If you're having a break down in the middle of a chase it distracts me from driving or watching to see what the storm is going to do. If I'm freaking out it's because we're about to die, so feel free to join me. (This became a rule after I had one guy try to jump into my lap from the backseat when I was trying to get us some shelter, and another guy jump into a ditch when the tornado is going by).

(4) I will not be part of a "chaser convention." I don't care how good the storm is, if there is a line of 30 cars heading towards it on a 2-lane highway, I'm going the opposite direction. Again, see #1. I like to be able to quickly leave an area if I feel it is necessary, and if I'm in a sea of cars that's not an easy task.

Didn't know Juston, but his partner on that show (Simon Brewster--I think that's his last name), I had several classes with at OU. Brewster used to chase with another guy from our classes who was an utter moron. When he started chasing with Juston, he traded way way up. :)

Dusty. Probably the best part of that movie

ROFL

That might have deserved an elbow to the nose.

I'm not that mean. Never even offered to take him chasing again, though. :D

I've always been intrigued by the idea of storm chasing and doing it, like genuinely interested in the science of it and how tornadoes form, move, work, etc.

What areas do you normally go to the most...? Or is it just kind of you're always prepared and go when something pops up.

I know the crane operator that dropped the combine in the movie Twister. True Story.

Growing up in St. Joseph, bad weather is apart of life. While everyone is going inside with the sirens I was going outside to hop in my Ford Tempo to see if I could see the damaging weathers. I think I out braved highway patrolmen most of the times. Proud of myself

I live in western MO and have a job which provides some degree of flexibility, so I usually just go when something pops up (or is about to pop up) within a hundred mile radius or so. Yet, I'm very picky anymore about when I go on "distance" chases each year (mostly b/c of the cost of gas), meaning more than 200-300 miles roundtrip.

I do keep an eye on the Storm Prediction Center and if they are forecasting a good setup, I'll wait until the day before and look at various models and such and do my own forecast to see if and where I want to go the next day (for personal forecasting, I love the tools the College of DuPage has at weather.cod.edu).

I typically try to aim for east to central KS, southeast NE, or northeast OK--all places I could drive to and drive back in a single day. So the I-35, I-135, Hwy 81 line in KS is typically as far west as I'll plan to go.

In recent years I've had some really good chases going down to Bartlesville, OK; Salina, KS; and the Beloit, Jewell, Burr Oak area of KS, as part of my one or two longer trips each year.

A lifelong buddy of mine (who has chased with me quite a bit) and I have planned a couple of chase vacations in the past, but we usually have to pick a week a couple of months in advanced b/c of his job, and they don't pan out well (like--one storm in TX at the start of the week and that's it), so we quit doing that.

The pic I attached is from a chase near Salina/Abilene, KS, back in April 2012. It's one of my favorite tornado pics I've taken b/c of it's classic stove-pipe shape, the backlighting that makes it stand out, and the fact that it was over fields and doing very little damage to property. I think we were about 2-3 miles away at the time.

We watched it form on backroads with hardly anyone around, took that pic right before we hopped onto I-70 (where most of the people we encountered were), and then watched it die out when we were on the backroads again.

One of the worst movies of modern times. Complete dreck. You should be denied suffrage if you like this movie.

That's awesome...there's been some gnarly storms around my area with some funnel clouds here and there but no touch downs or large tornadoes. I've always wanted to see one...

Storm chasers know to stay away from Alex Smith. Won't be any touchdowns around him.

I didn't know the movie 'Twister' was a classic.

Granted the bigger they are the rarer they are. ~75-80% are EF0-1, ~15-20% EF2-3, ~1% EF4-5.

I've caught a glimpse of an EF4 from a distance (about 10 miles with hills and trees in the way). By the time we got to where we could view the storm much closer, it had dissipated and reformed a smaller tornado shortly thereafter.

I've caught a few of the EF2-3's. The most up close was that EF2 that went through my hometown, Sedalia, a few years back. Funny thing is: I wasn't even there to chase, I was there for a funeral, and it was my mom who saw it with me (it missed their neighborhood by ~1/4 of a mile, but we were watching it from the parking lot of the new high school a bit further south--I didn't get very good footage of that one b/c she was yelling at me to call my dad since he was at home, the sirens weren't sounding, and it looked like it was heading his way; I did have a little 10sec clip that made the Weather Channel, though). There were so many things that came together just right for that storm--primarily a small boundary set up creating the shear needed for rotation in just the right spot. It wasn't supposed to be a bad day, they didn't even have a watch out.

I actually don't think I would want to see an EF4-5. They're ranked by damage (though RADAR wind estimates are getting better) and to be ranked that high, that means they're (typically) going through a populated area and doing major damage. I like my tornadoes in open fields.

So, I will gladly take the EF0-3's. :)

Edit: Here's the short vid from Sedalia I was talking about, if it embeds right:

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I thought she came across as aloof and standoffish in her movies.

The crane operator I referred to earlier said she was also.

He saw her on set and approached her and said "Hello Ms. Hunt!" and she turned and yelled "Security!" ROFL

We would yell that in the bar occasionally for laughs.

Hardy har har harrrrr.

I think I actually remember that tornado...I'm from Clinton.

I still remember the night Joplin got hit...we actually had a bad storm that evening too and then you see news crew van after news crew van speeding through town and all I could think was WTF is going on...that was crazy.

I live in JoMo. Don't care to see one ever again.

Yeah, the Sedalia one happened I think 3 days after Joplin, so when the thing was first warned, everyone was on edge. It hit two trailer parks and a residential neighborhood. Nerves b/c of Joplin are likely why the worst injuries were scratches--people actually took shelter.

I go through Clinton and Windsor to get to Sedalia. I drove under the storm and when I was almost to Windsor I looked in the rearview and thought, "That looks a lot like a wall cloud, but surely not today," knowing the larger setup wasn't favorable. Ten minutes later my mom called and said the Windsor and Green Ridge areas were under a warning, and that the storm was heading toward Sedalia... So I kept driving.

http://www.spc.noaa.gov/products/md/md0252.html

Speaking of tornadoes, they're saying a small window risk of some in the MO-NE-IA corner over the next few hours.

I'm assuming that is Joplin?

I have friends that went through a tornado in Mapleton Iowa a year or so before the one in Joplin. So after the one in Joplin their church group went down to help. Mapleton got hit but nothing like Joplin. She said it was like a two mile swath right through the middle of town just was gone.

I don't blame you.

I'm driving like a mad man to the area now.

22 Colleagues and myself lost our offices. Lucky it was a Sunday. Weekday? Twice as worse.

Tor watch north of KC Metro

I went down and helped with the clean up after the Joplin tornado....my God, never seen anything like that. It was beyond sad and just devastating to see...