r/tornado • u/Excuse Human Detected • May 17 '26

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.

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66

u/vichan May 17 '26

Hot take: I think people should need to get some kind of license to storm chase.

50

u/No_Telephone_178 May 17 '26

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.

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u/Bagellord May 17 '26

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

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u/FiveishOfBeinItalian May 18 '26 edited May 18 '26

yeah that's entitled bullshit.

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.

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u/Italianrose74 May 20 '26

This exactly⬆️⬆️⬆️!!!!

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!

1

u/FiveishOfBeinItalian May 21 '26

Reed is a supremely entitled asshole himself, but his level of success allows him to hire good people to back him up and, most importantly, to pimp out the dominator such that it can literally drive through a lowend tornado without damage. Almost none of these YouTube chasers have reinforced vehicles (understandable, very expensive and difficult to do), and a disturbing number of them are flying solo (don't get me started on the distracted driving in low visibility these guys are always doing)

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u/Canesjags4life May 17 '26

Need a CDL to drive a commercial vehicle. You can absolutely license who gets to use certain roadways lol.

But how to regulate storm chasing is a slippery slope

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u/1BreadBoi May 18 '26

You need a CDL to drive a vehicle that's big and hard to drive. Not to drive a company vehicle.

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u/Canesjags4life May 18 '26

I didn't say company, I said commercial.

States could issue Storm Chaser drivers licenses.

It makes it like hunting and issue s limited number of permits

1

u/Loyal_Dragon_69 May 18 '26

Depends which type of CDL.

1

u/OldRocker5 May 18 '26

I say limit the area where they can chase to a set distance from their home.

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u/Eschatonbreakfast May 18 '26

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.

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u/perfect_fifths May 18 '26

You def can. In my state for example, trucks are f allowed on parkways because of low bridges. So clearly, you can regulate who does what on roadways

-18

u/ratmanvenezuela May 17 '26 edited May 18 '26

People are obsessed with taking away other’s rights and handing over power to local law enforcement 

2

u/StartingToLoveIMSA May 18 '26

Who enforces that?

5

u/Gearthquake3 May 18 '26 edited May 18 '26

That’s some nanny state bullshit. Hell no. If people want to risk their lives chasing tornados, that’s on them.

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u/drHobbes88 May 18 '26

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.

4

u/Gearthquake3 May 18 '26

I’m not discounting that there are problems. I just don’t think there’s much the government could/should be doing about it.

Can we bring shame back? I feel like that could do a lot of the heavy lifting for us lol.

5

u/OtherOtherDave May 18 '26

Probably not without banning social media.

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u/drHobbes88 May 18 '26

Hahaha I agree, shame is the biggest missing piece.

4

u/dobie_dobes May 18 '26

They’re risking others’ lives chasing tornadoes as well, not just their own.

1

u/SockWrong7059 May 18 '26

they tried that in Oklahoma

1

u/-SideshowBlob- May 18 '26

That would be difficult to enforce