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What do storm chasers do?

Storm chasers follow severe thunderstorms to observe, photograph, measure and report what they do. The job is mostly forecasting and driving; the dramatic minutes are a small fraction of a long day.

Anatomy of a supercellA cross-section of a supercell thunderstorm moving to the right: warm moist inflow enters from the lower right and rises in the rotating updraft under a wide anvil; the wall cloud and tornado hang below the updraft; heavy rain and hail fall in the forward-flank downdraft; the rear-flank downdraft wraps around the back.ANVILUPDRAFTWARM, MOISTINFLOWREAR-FLANKDOWNDRAFTRAIN + HAILFORWARD FLANKWALL CLOUDTORNADOSTORM MOTION
Supercell cross-section. Warm, moist air flows in low on the right and rises in the rotating updraft; the wall cloud and tornado form under it, between the rain-and-hail core and the rear-flank downdraft.

The morning: choosing a target

A chase starts hours before any storm exists. Chasers read forecast models, upper-air charts and the Storm Prediction Center’s outlooks to decide where the ingredients (moisture, instability, wind shear and a trigger such as a front or dryline) are most likely to line up. They pick a target region, often hundreds of miles from where they slept.

Good chasers talk about patience more than speed. Many chase days end with no tornado at all, and the skill is knowing when a setup is real and when it is not.

The afternoon: positioning

Once storms form, chasers watch radar and the sky together. They want to be close enough to see the storm’s structure, but on a road with an escape route and out of the heaviest rain and hail. The position that offers a clear view of the storm’s inflow side — usually the south and east of a storm in the Northern Hemisphere — is the classic choice.

Roads decide everything. A dirt road that turns to mud, a river with no bridge, or a one-lane detour can end a chase or put people in danger.

The reporting job

Many chasers are also trained spotters who report what they see to the National Weather Service: rotation, funnel clouds, hail size, damage. Those reports help forecasters issue and verify warnings, which is the most valuable thing a chaser can do.

  • Forecast and choose a target region
  • Track storms on radar and by eye
  • Keep an escape route and read the roads
  • Report observations to the weather service
  • Photograph and record for education and research

Research chasers and instrument pods

Research teams go further. Some deploy instrument pods in a tornado’s path to measure pressure, wind and temperature near the ground, and others use mobile radars to see inside the storm. Stormchaser’s pod-and-photo mechanic is a playful nod to that work: you set your instrument down ahead of the storm, then capture the moment.

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Last reviewed 2 November 2026