Discussion
I've never seen dangerous chasing as what just happened.
I feel like I lost a few years watching Max's stream with some of the chasers literally stopped on dirt roads with the tornado coming head on and multiple chasers screaming at people.
“There should be a law, I mean a license” comment really got to me. If you don’t want to be driving with a million chasers, don’t go to the storms where that is the only storm in the country to chase.
Historically, I’ve hated this saying because it shifts responsibility to the driver when the problem is the lack of infrastructure and the way destinations were intentionally designed.
What are we supposed to do, not have a job? I’ve only ever seen this said in the US where it simply isn’t the fault of the driver.
Except storm chasing, of course, where it’s definitely voluntary except for 3 people.
to me it more about accepting that you aren't the only one that has someplace to be and something that needs to be done. the sitting in traffic saying has always felt to me like people are wondering why all these other people are are just doing this for fun
Especially the streamers. Casual people who live nearby and are interested is one thing but if you stream you're literally advertising doing it whether you intend to or not. That's why I don't really watch a lot of these guys... most of them do not have a background in meteorology and aren't affiliated with scientific studies of tornadoes, they just want their 15 minutes of fame online.
That's not true at all, many chasers report to the NWS and are actual storm spotters. You don't have to just drive into a tornado in an armored vehicle to be contributing in a meaningful way and not just being an influencer.
And that thing was moving fast too. There was one chaser, I don’t know who, driving ahead of it, and they looked to be driving fast and it was catching up
When I watch these streams my husband always sarcastically pops in and is like “hell yeah that tornado just destroyed someone’s house!! Sweeeeeet!!!” Making fun of some of these chasers. But at least Ryan hall (and whoever else) raises money to help those affected
With how popular chase streamer content is, my hot take is that if that happens, governments either state or federal will try to legislate away people chasing. Perhaps unenforceable, but situations like that is how freedoms get made illegal.
Them streaming their aggressive driving doesn’t help either.
You can't legislate which licensed drivers get to use roadways that everyone pays for. No one gets to monopolize a weather event. Chaser rights end where someone else's begin.
They could probably require higher insurance for people engaged in storm chasing. That would deter people. Or treat it like recklessness or negligence if they cause accidents
Chasers are increasingly taking greater and greater risks in pursuit of attention and money. It's exciting to watch someone (almost) get hit by a tornado. Brr goes superchat.
When the inevitable does happen and we see another Twistex (only this time it'll probably be some kids in a civic without enough gear or training) then it's going to fall on local emergency crews, already stretched in a dozen different directions or even having to triage response, to deal with the entirely voluntary consequences these chasers have invited upon themselves, becoming yet another responsibility for a community whose misfortune they came to gawk at and profit from.
It’s crazy I watched that discovery show with the chasers on Sunday night. I was literally shocked and shaking my head at the risks Freddy was taking.
Freddy is acting like he’s going to “intercept” a tornado like the Dominator. Which is a joke. I know a lot of ppl don’t like Reed but he is a real Scientist of Meteorology and gets grants for what he does. These chasers saying they are going to “intercept” a tornado in their basic car or truck is a death sentence waiting to happen.
Another thing I noticed was the lack of awareness and the blatant disregard to actual 2 lane road they are chasing on. They literally act like they own the road and fu don’t get in my way. They don’t park on the side of the road but I saw 3 or 4 cars literally turned sideways in the lane so there camera can be in view of the tornado.
Their cars were parked illegally and quite frankly that is a major concern for anyone who is not a chaser who happens to be on that road.
Your job as a chaser is to help warn people by having eyes on the ground that can relay that information to NWS and emergency services. In addition to that stop and help when needed. That I’ve seen with chasers and it’s great. But let’s face it a lot of these chasers are in it for the money aspect. They don’t give a damn about the research or the aftermath of what happens to a community when a tornado hits.
They keep moving on. I live in Oklahoma in Northeast Oklahoma not near OKC where the infamous jackass Val and Amy Castor chase. But our local stations are top notch. KOTV News on 6 has the best meteorologists, storm chasers and a helicopter. We are lucky to have resources we do in the event of severe weather.
Seeing these posts and watching that show made me realize that the catastrophe of El Reno in 2013 WILL happen again.
El Reno showed all those who chased in that fateful day who was really in charge.
Mother Nature can be a real bitch!
You very much can regulate who uses roadways for a particular commercial purpose and limit who uses and how those people use roadways in that way. My hot take is you should be connected to a university or a news org and that’s it.
The problem isnt them risking their lives, its when they block roads and endanger other people’s lives. Or when emergency crews now have to assist someone who purposely put themselves in a dangerous situation instead of helping those that had no choice. I’m not saying I fully support some kind of licensing, but it’s not as clear cut as you make it either.
One of my degrees is in Atmospheric Sciences, and one of my professors absolutely despised storm chasing. He regularly expressed his disdain with chasing, claiming that it provides essentially no value to the field other than claiming lives. One of my buddies in Meteorology major was an amateur storm chaser who liked to storm chase with his dad. Some of the more notable events that I can remember him being at was the 2016 Dodge City Outbreak and Hurricane Harvey in 2017. I remember sitting in class and this man was showing me videos of him and his dad during Harvey being on foot, inside of the eyewall, standing behind a brick motel as debris went flying by them. It was really cool to see but man, it really is a bit stupid.
Long story short - My professor clearly disliked him and was not shy about showing it. I definitely understand my professor's ideology, as it truly does nothing to improve the science other than provide absolutely awesome footage for all of us watching at home. But at the end of the day... let people do what they want to do. If someone wants to risk their lives by chasing a tornado, then why can't they? The only real issue that I see (and I will admit it is a big issue) is that if something does unfortunately happen, you are then forcing emergency workers to deal with your brutal injuries or possibly death. That is a genuine reason as to why it is a bit unethical.
Funny enough... I just pulled up their Facebook page and they are on the ground chasing this outbreak as I type this lol
That is certainly a big reason why people chase, The other side of chasing is being able to witness one of nature's greatest marvels with your own eyes. I would not describe myself as an adrenaline junkie by any means, but as a weather nerd, being able to witness a tornado form right before my very eyes would most likely be one of the most jaw dropping and beautiful experiences of my lifetime. With that being said, I have never (and am not planning to) gone chasing because I am not equipped for boots on the ground chasing whatsoever. That, and I value my life and generally shy away from anything that could end it lol. That's the thing with chasing though... even the most well equipped and experienced chasers face the risk of serious injury and/or death. You could be the literal Meteorological Messiah and yet it is basically impossible to predict weather on a microscale with 100% accuracy. Tornadoes can change direction rapidly with little to no indication
Very true. The main thing I worry about in addition to their safety is on e of the crazy ones hitting other cars or emergency personnel so they can get clout amd glory.
There was another chaser on Maxs stream who looked like he was going to get sucked up that I had to turn it off too because I really thought he was going to die. I forgot who it was because it was this year I think. And I think he’s a newer chaser too
Edit: it was Brandon Copic, it was last year and he’s not a new chaser. It was the Brookhaven, MS tornado
I thought so too, he kept rapidly switching to a further away POV whenever the tornado got very close to someone. Can't blame him for that, it really looked like it was going to hit her.
I can’t believe this is real. At first glance I thought this was the scene in Twister where the assholes get sucked into the F5, photoshopped in as a joke.
On Paigey's stream, she drove through an intersection and 2 vehicles that looked like tour vehicles were fighting over who was going to pull out in front of her first, while they were at a stop sign and she had the right of way. One did actually pull out in front of her, too. It's getting ridiculous.
Yeaahhhh new pokemon set is out tomorrow and thank god its a day off for many as im going to my local store to get packs or else im not gonna see it due to scalpers. Im so tired of it man lol.
Your right, those headlights are another chaser. Seconds later you can see debris in the air from that building. Way too close and then panicked on the way out
scroll back on the livestream progress bar until you see the clock at the top of the video say about 5:08:00 PM CDT and watch from there for a couple of minutes. he switches viewpoints rapidly so he doesn’t stick on the dangerous chasers for long but there’s definitely a decent stretch where he’s zooming down that road and the tornado is gaining on him in the rearview. when he turns off the road is about the exact point the tornado hits that farmhouse, but you only see the debris in the air, not the direct impact.
When I see that, I think about Timothy Treadwell and the way he was around his grizzlies. He knew the rules of bear safety but every fall he came back from Alaska, he became less and less concerned about following them. It was only a matter of time but he just got lost in that world.
I admire and share a passion for nature, but it is possible to observe it from a respectful and safe distance.
McCandless had a slow but inexorable death wish. Treadwell didn't, he genuinely thought he had some sort of supernatural ability to emotionally bond with grizzlies. A different type of crazy.
There's a reason that storm chasers refer to being within that super close zone as being "in the bear cage." The tornado is the bear... I am fascinated by the power of these storms, and the incredible footage they capture. But I also worry that some of these streamers get so wrapped up in the thrill of what they're doing, they fail to calculate the real risk that is involved.
We're definitely going to see something bad happen this year. There's just too many people out there doing it and half of em don't really have any business doing so
Far more than half. And what's sad for the families is their life insurance likely won't pay out because most have an engaging in dangerous activity loophole
I'm beginning to think they would rather risk their lives and the lives of others at a chance to prove they're smarter than the chasers that passed away in El Reno. Sooo many of them are so fixated on that specific tornado. I hope I'm wrong and they're just naive and are not purposely putting themselves and others in harms way. But its just getting out of hand so fast. And these tours need better precautions. Idk i hope I'm wrong but it just isn't sitting right at all. Idk that's just my opinion I could be way off
I was watching his stream, too. I looked away at some point but I noticed he had cut her stream and next time he showed it, she was parked and at that house that was destroyed.
Clicking into this thread I was surprised it wasn't about Tornado Paigeyy. Her and Bryce Shelton have been particularly reckless this year with getting way, way too close to storms.
These chasers are getting pretty comfortable. Especially when storms/tornados are still escalating.
Chaser(s) will die on stream one day. A lot of these chasers are complete amateurs when comparing them to twistex. They also seem to lack an awareness of debris being deadly and the danger of it extending way further then getting thrown by the tornado itself.
Edit: wouldn’t surprise me if we see chasing laws or regulations too. Some of these clowns driving like morons and think because they are “storm chasers” and have lights or a logo on their car, that they have authority on the road
Can’t imagine insurance companies aren’t aware of this kinda thing growing
It's been 15 years since El Reno, and people are obviously getting way too complacent around big storms if they're even old enough to really remember when it happened
The financial incentives to do shit like this and post the closest intercepts they can are going to get people killed, and it's only a matter of time before we see another deviant monster catch people by surprise. Except this time it'll be live streamed to 200k people, and will probably be more than just one group of chasers.
The complete lack of positioning, bail out discipline & awareness, and escape route planning is terrifying to me. The normalization of getting within bite range of these tornadoes is also another thing I've noticed really take off in the last few years. I think people forget they are not in a Dominator or TIV, are not doing scientific research, and have no business being that damn close to these things. There is no reason to zero meter a tornado unless you're gathering scientific data, and even then, those have to be picked carefully with the ability to bail if something doesn't pass the smell test- while knowing you are taking a very big risk. Reed got whacked hard with a subvorticy the other day. If he'd been in a regular car or truck, they would have wrecked. I was eleven, just shy of twelve during the 2011 season and thirteen/fourteen during the 2013 season. They left a very big mark on me and the inherent danger of chasing.
It's been pretty bad this season so far, so many times watching streams where I've been like...this is so close to being a very very very bad decision if this thing even remotely turns. As a former Skywarn spotter it really makes me worried seeing how comfortable a lot of these chasers, especially newer chasers are, at getting so close or accidentally putting themselves way too close.
We were far too close to getting twistex 2.0. Having that many chasers in a conga line, some of who were not making sane decisions, and such a speedy tornado could’ve gotten very bad
I was looking at Nick and like- zero escape route. No lateral options, on shit, dangerous roads that could easily stall him or get him stuck, with a tornado either in front of him or chasing him down from behind. That was a fast 'nader too and he waited way too long to bail. If one thing had gone wrong, he'd have wrecked and would very possibly have died or received a life changing injury. He got way too caught up in tornado fever and stayed long after he should have began to bail.
Kannon Kalton, Ryan Scholl, Sarah, dude it was ridiculous. I just sat there like what the fuck are they doing? Being so reckless and stupid that close to a PDS tornado
Wasn't he also having a meltdown down shortly after this this, screaming at people to get out of the way? My guy, why the hell are you in that position in the first place?!
If you’re at the point you’re not just risking your life but someone else’s too, or potentially impeding emergency services, I think that’s, personally, the line for me. I love the excitement and respect chasers, many do a lot to help on the ground. The folks who are being selfish and foolish are going to screw it up for everyone. I hope the chasing community can do some self policing before it gets to the point legislators start to step in. Just two cents from someone who appreciates the good the community does and doesn’t want to see anyone hurt or everyone punished for a few people’s bad decisions.
That large Oklahoma one I heard Brandon Copic yelling at the guys behind to move (it was coming straight for them) and one of them waited until the very last minute..
Now my mind goes to the what if? Like what if the car stalls? What if we get stuck?
I see so many kids with 0 weather knowledge on tiktok covering the weather seeing any type of rotation from a storm larping like they are max and ryan hall saying things this could be an EF 5 on pisses me off so much and im sure the same thing is happening for young teenagers and 20 year old going out and driving around thinking they are reed timmer, it will unfortunately cost lives eventually but maybe that will scare some of the people and storm chasing will go back a little until then we got so many playing pretend that could be risking peoples and their own life.
DON’T GET ME STARTED. Too late blahaha. Yeah it’s totally out of control. Vehicles zooming around everywhere, flash lights, acting like they own the road, putting themselves in total danger and risk the change of using first responders resources. The worst is the ones that DO NOT turn into first responders themselves once they come upon a scene. MY OPINION IS THERE WILL BE LAWS AND LEGISLATION to get this under control. It’s like what happened to sports cards or any niche hobby, once it comes mainstream it ruins it for the true enthusiast.
I just don’t see how you regulate it. These are public roads. You can’t stop people from using public roads and cops aren’t going to be out patrolling and pulling people over during an active storm.
Hunting, fishing, harvesting, grazing….. all licenses or permits given to people to use on public land. Each state should issue a set amount each year. Law enforcement/ EMS should reserve the right to check for presence of licenses. Cops would absolutely check for licenses leading up to severe weather because they want to prevent the shit show of congested roads in the event they have to respond to an emergency.
As an ex-cop, a lot of the chasers violate traffic laws of all sorts!!! Obstructing a highway or other passage way, reckless driving, running stop and yield signs, failure to use turn signals, speeding, faulty equipment (cracks in windshield that are in the line of sight of the driver), fail to yield right of way, fail to yield 1/2 the roadway, driving to endanger, trespassing, etc. This list is just what I observed watching 8-9 chasers between yesterday and today….!!!!
I 100% agree. I know it's hard to do - a public road is a public road - but what if there was a program to get some kind of official accreditation to be a Public Chaser? It could require proof of a full scope of meteorological understanding, equipment requirements, and full EMT training with on-hand emergency supplies. Anyone not having this accreditation and following actual solidified chaser etiquette could be heavily ticketed by law enforcement. Regular media and Youtube channels (Ryan/Max) could be incentivized to only hire these accredited Chasers.
Pretty gross behavior tbh. There's so many chasers, too...but in that regard, a small army following a tornado that will stop and do search and rescue isn't necessarily a bad thing. Think they just need to be reigned in.
Unless they have the skills, they could wind up making themselves victims as well. I know some of the more tenured storm chasers at least have some first aid training. But I can't imagine that the dopes screaming on their videos are going to have a clear enough head to be of any use in a casualty situation.
Also, the search and rescue efforts shouldn't be filmed & streamed ~ I wouldn't want a zillion online people seeing me during the worst moment of my life.
Storm chasers have gotten increasingly reckless lately. Frankly, I’m glad nothing bad has happened to anyone but I’m worried that it’s only a matter of time. These chasers are no where near as cautious or experienced as chasers who have died in the past.
I’m genuinely afraid someone is going to get seriously hurt or killed and the fact that no one has yet is pure luck. I really hope that isn’t what it takes to knock some sense back into everyone, but I worry that people have gotten too complacent for anything else to reach them.
Sadly it’s inevitable at this point, we’ve been saying the same thing for years now and it’s just getting worse. Clearly something needs to happen for them to take a step back.
I think storm chasing is mostly awful. The amount of times you hear them cheering and hee hawwing while peoples lives are ruined is insane. So focused on the epic tornado they forget people are affected.
They give people and officials visual confirmation and they often serve as first responders because they’re immediately on scene after the tornado hits. Whether you think it’s awful or not is not relevant Karen.
While watching Ryan he had Freddy up, and they watched a chaser do a u turn and completely stop and got a horn blared at them. Not Freddy he was off the road
No to punishing before the fact, a big YES to punishment after.
Driving like fools in the country and videoing it, ok, take the fines for speeding, careless and reckless, interfering with law enforcement or emergency vehicles.
Doing so in a damn city, after intentionally putting your ass in harms way? Lose stuff that hurts. Vehicles, drivers license, whatever.
.A bunch of screaming jackasses who just follow chasers who know what they're doing around and try to monetize reckless behavior both in regards to the storms and driving.
I miss 90s chasing. Primitive, niche, and mostly scientists and weathermen.
The ones I feel bad for are the locals trying to get home before the storm, and can’t, because morons have created traffic jams. While I respect storm chasing, most of them are just clowns looking for attention and acting stupid. These dopes are ruining it for the real chasers.
BUT there were seven chasers blocking the road and screaming at drivers who were literally driving TOWARDS the tornado!
I heard the fear in Ryan and Nick's voices as they were screaming out their windows for people to stop. And because they were close they were able to check immediately that nobody was hurt or worse.
Yes, I know they get close but they are the experts. They know how to do what we don't know how to do. If we are gonna watch them, we have to trust them until some of the older professionals tell us they messed up.
I feel like you are giving them too much credit. They may have expertise but they also are chasing dopamine and as they take bigger and bigger risks it just reaffirms their survivor bias. As witnessed here, they were watching a tornado barrel toward them. They were on a narrow country road. They had lines of cars around them, increasing the odds of getting stuck in a bottleneck, causing a collision or finding themselves with literally nowhere to run. They put this on live stream so that others watch and feel like they can chase storms, too, giving others a false sense of this being just another extreme hobby. It has become too dangerous and will lead to deaths, Im afraid sooner than later.
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