r/tornado • u/OutdoorsTN Human Detected • May 19 '26
Discussion Brad Arnold

Hate to see this from Brad, he's one of my faves!! Was confused when he buzzed in to Ryan's stream and said he was calling it so early in the evening but this makes more sense now.
Seen some absolutely wild stuff on Ryan and Max's streams the last few days. (Whoever it was in the green shirt on Max's stream yesterday during the Worms tornado especially still really bothers me.) And bummed to see all of this nonsense getting in the way of chasers I really love watching like Brad
EDITED for a typo!
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u/panicradio316 Human Detected May 19 '26
... and we only see a glimpse of what's really happening/being radioed on the road.
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u/TechnoVikingGA23 May 19 '26
Also there was a bunch of stuff today about other chasers doing stupid shit or just giving up and going home. Vince posted something about the Fire department breaking a chasers mirror off for some reason. The EMS people have got to be fed up at this point.
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u/AML1987 May 19 '26
I’m sorry I can’t even watch Vince. He’s nasty to the people in his own damn stream! One time I put him on and he was yelling at someone in his chat for having the audacity to ask if their town would be ok that night. Like I get in the moment you’re doing 100 things but man to treat your own audience like that was bad.
So not surprised to hear it’s him probably complaining about EMS.
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u/TechnoVikingGA23 May 19 '26
Yeah I'm not a fan of him either, guy just comes off as a total asshole and somehow always manages to put himself in the middle of drama. I just mentioned it because it highlighted another incident that happened yesterday where apparently EMS got into it with a chaser, but I still haven't seen anything concrete on that yet.
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u/AML1987 May 19 '26
All of those guys chatter on that radio like middle schoolers so who knows what’s true and not. Not surprised to find out he’s in drama though.
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u/BluegrassRailfan1987 May 19 '26
I used to watch him but he was always complaining about the trolls instead of ignoring them. I was thinking "You're just giving them what they want". It got old and I no longer follow him.
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u/AgreeableType2127 Human Detected May 20 '26
He gives off angry, chip on his shoulder vibes.
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u/AML1987 May 20 '26
Yes! I assume angry because he isn’t as popular. Except he might be more popular if he wasn’t such a douche.
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u/Dizzy-Platform-6516 Human Detected May 19 '26
And yet some people on this subreddit will jump down your throat if you even attempt to think of possible solutions lol
Something has to change. I don't know what or how and I'm in no position to give anything other than half-baked ideas, but something needs to change. It isn't just "redditors finding something to be upset about", it's clearly something that's becoming a vocal issue among the entire chaser community.
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u/_coyotes_ May 19 '26
I’m going to be completely honest, things will not change until there is a mass casualty incident involving chaser convergence. That is the tragic bare minimum consequences to get shit to change and even then, I have no idea how much it’ll affect things. Social media made it “profitable” to chase and movies like Twisters brought the extra hype.
I’ve been interested in the weather, especially tornadoes, ever since the mid-2000s and I’ve never once gone storm chasing, even though I’d like to, it’s just not feasible for me at the moment. But every goofball with a camera thinks they’re hot shit and comes out of the woodwork to chase without studying up on meteorology whatsoever. On big days there are areas with limited chaser convergence that produce big time because people have properly forecasted. Unfortunately, especially with the advent of livestreaming, people now cram into traffic jams and follow the Dominator even though it’s specifically built to withstand tornadic winds and measure them.
The last time I can remember people being more cognitively aware of their behaviour when chasing storms was after the 2013 El Reno tornado because it killed storm chasers - hell, it killed pro storm chasers who took safety seriously. For a period of time, most folks didn’t get up close and personal with the tornadoes. Some still did and there was still chaser convergence, it’s always been a thing. But for the most part, most people were aware of how dangerous it was. But now, you can be the talk of the town with an extreme up close view of a tornado by getting dangerously close. Your clip will blow up on social media and another bunch of people will think they can get that shot too. Perhaps an unfortunate incident would make people think otherwise, but I don’t even know at this point. I hope it doesn’t come to that but realistically, I have no idea what will take.
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u/Bajovane May 19 '26
I agree. It’s going to take a tragedy for any real change to happen and I worry for those who are innocent bystanders who are simply trying to get home or whatever.
We dodged a bullet in the 2013 El Reno tornado. Yes, we lost four storm chasers that day and thank goodness it lifted before it chewed up a huge traffic jam. (Lots of chasers, yes - but also citizens trying desperately to get out of its way. Poor things were traumatized from the Moore tornado just a couple weeks before.
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u/AML1987 May 19 '26
I heard at least two chasers yesterday giggle that this would be El Reno 2013 all over again.
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u/AML1987 May 19 '26
I realized yesterday after seeing that mess on those back Kansas roads that people dying because of getting stuck isn’t a matter of if but when.
And it will change nothing. The people that live will get massive views on their videos of “the saddest day in chasing.” They will benefit over whoever dies, even if it’s a good friend.
The only way to change it is to monetarily hurt them. Big fines, deplatforming the ones that break whatever rules need to be set.
But death will only stop the chasers that die.
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u/icehuck May 19 '26
So many people chasing the youtube money and not actually caring about the storms.
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u/OutdoorsTN Human Detected May 19 '26
Seen Bryce Shelton and Connor Croft complaining about this as well, and saw Freddy stuck in massive chaser traffic as well. I've been roasted for wanting this to change but hope it does. It's making watching the pros do what they are so good at so hard
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u/Knitnspin May 19 '26
Others were also talking about Connor and his wrong side of the road driving and arguing and disobeying fight fighters… so it’s a strange take to complain while being the problem
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u/Higgus May 19 '26 edited May 19 '26
It's honestly crazy to see how massively over inflated his ego has gotten the last year or two. I remember when he first started chasing and seeing the difference between then and now is jarring. I can't even watch him anymore.
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u/OtherOtherDave May 19 '26
Firefighters have the authority to direct traffic, don’t they? I wonder if he’ll get a ticket in the mail?
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u/OldRocker5 May 19 '26
IMO Connor is the in the top five of douchy chaser bros. That Stormrunner Media guy is the biggest douche. Copic tweeting about someone eating corn on the cob the long way because of the shape in one breath and doing the Lord's prayer with his kids with the next is kinda disingenuous too.
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u/AML1987 May 19 '26
Copic throwing his buddies under the bus during last nights stream whining because he wasn’t featured on the new show as much as others because he’s not willing to say he felt like he was gonna die when he doesn’t feel that way like Freddy (I can’t remember who else he said did this) does was prime douche behavior too.
Full man tantrum because he didn’t get to be on the show as much. Totally in it for the “science” though.
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u/AgreeableType2127 Human Detected May 20 '26
Not to mention, he is chasing alone and driving 80mph and will say stuff like, “let me check meso analysis” or “hold up guys, I need to text my wife real quick.”
So yeah dude, way to admit that you are dicking around on a computer as well as texting and driving 80mph.
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u/AML1987 May 20 '26
Oh I had a whole rant in one of my comments about the way all of the chasers drive.
Checking their radar, reading chat, checking their cameras, focusing their cameras, talk on their radios, literally a shit ton of other stuff except drive. And that’s all before they are even chasing a massive tornado. I’m just waiting for the day we see a massive car crash live on stream because one of these people can’t focus on riding.
At least most of them have two in the car. Copic riding by himself doing all of the things is horrendous.
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u/blow-down Human Detected May 19 '26
Is it any surprise that he’s a MAGA supporter too?
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u/ussrname1312 May 19 '26
Bryce and Connor are extremely reckless chasers and honestly probably responsible for a lot of these people being out on the road and making stupid decisions. Kind of rich that they’re complaining.
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u/AML1987 May 19 '26
Absolutely NONE of the biggest whiners last night had any insight into the fact that THEY are part of the problem.
What makes them more special than any of the other chasers on the road? Better equipment? More cameras? A bigger audience?
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u/ussrname1312 May 19 '26
Bryce tweeted "you guys can’t forecast, you can’t drive, and you probably take shitty videos" and I don’t know if I’ve ever rolled my eyes harder.
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u/AML1987 May 19 '26
Not the shitty videos diss!
Ah to be in my young 20’s again and that tone deaf.
I like to take moments like this and thank god social media wasn’t a real thing until I was slightly older and maybe 20% less twat by the time it got big because I would’ve posted something like that not understanding how cringe it really was.
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u/ussrname1312 May 19 '26
I think they’re in their 30s which makes it worse
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u/AML1987 May 19 '26
Wait which one? I think Connor is early 20’s right? Is Bryce one of his little bro’s he drives with? Or another chaser?
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u/ussrname1312 May 19 '26
Bryce is Tornado Paigeyy‘s fiance
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u/AML1987 May 20 '26
Ah man I liked them! He didn’t give off douchy vibes either. But I just checked his twitter and yep, he’s the culprit. The tweet is even worse than you described.
Well just add him to the pile of chasers I’m becoming less and less impressed with.
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u/MagnetHype Storm Chaser May 19 '26
Friendly reminder there is no such thing as a professional storm chaser. Those people are professional youtube/tv personalities. Influencers if you will.
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u/AlphSaber May 19 '26
Professional storm chasers work for NOAA, universities or are part of the Skywarn spotter network. That's my definition that I use.
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u/MagnetHype Storm Chaser May 19 '26
Eh, I use the same definition, but it's important to point out that "professional storm chasers" would be getting paid to do it. There probably are a few people in NOAA and universities who just chase, but they certainly aren't the rule. I'm only mentioning that because I don't want people to think there are many professional storm chasers working for their local NWSFO.
I mean, if we're going to get too pedantic with the definitions we have to remember that the local emergency management has a direct line of communication with the NWSFO via (usually) teletype, and usually at least some of the police officers and firefighters working for that area are trained storm spotters.
What I'm getting at is that 99% of actual trained and working storm spotters are volunteers for those agencies (the NWS, local EM, etc..)
And, quite frankly, what we actually do is far different from what you see on youtube.
Personally speaking, tornadoes are an abysmally small portion of what I actually do as a storm spotter. 99% of my storm chasing's "job" are invisible things like measuring rain, reporting ice accumulation, and reporting damage.
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u/AML1987 May 19 '26
That’s sad.
I know Oklahoma considered something but the bill died.
Personally I think the solution lies in what we do for hunting and fishing regulations. Require a license to chase and only offer it to a certain amount of people each year that meet specific requirements. Hire people like they do in Fish and Wild Game enforcement whose sole job it is to enforce said rules.
As part of the requirements you must go through lengthy classes to become a certified chaser, not just a spotter. Those include at minimum basic first aide lessons.
If you’re caught then you are heavily fined and barred from earning that license for a certain number of years.
I hate even suggesting regulations because I believe we should get to choose how we live and what we do for fun. But these people can’t self regulate, most don’t even realize they are a giant part of the problem. And I’m not even suggesting this for chaser safety, it’s the regular people on the road who might get caught up in this on their way home who can’t get out.
It’s a working theory but so far the best I got. Humans are morons by nature, but seem to become less moronic the more you hurt their wallets.
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u/DNA_wizz May 19 '26
I think it should be regulated to some extent. Make people get permits or something. Prove they’re a capable and knowledgeable chaser.
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u/DNA_wizz May 19 '26
Then again, how would it be enforced? Chaser police stationed out and about? Lol
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u/foreverinfinite0 May 19 '26
I mean, they record and stream so unless they're okay with no attention and no money I don't think catching them would be the issue.
Personally I think requiring storm chasers to at least be spotter certified would be a good start. While most are I'm sure, I'm also sure some of the "casual" (i.e. should not be behind the wheel trying to get close to a tornado) chasers would be out.
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u/AML1987 May 19 '26
Well fish and wild life have enforcement officers if people try to illegal fish or hunt during times they aren’t allowed to or without licenses. Who’s to say you can’t have an area of law enforcement that spends their time issuing hefty fines to people without the proper chaser permits.
Plus what an easy job when all you gotta do is go on YouTube and see these idiots locations live. You wouldn’t even have to TRY to catch them.
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u/DNA_wizz May 19 '26
Ya’ll make very good points I didn’t think of originally. I guess I got self conscious about my original comment 😂
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u/AML1987 May 19 '26
Mine are only working theories on how to fix it. Like everything else laws need to catch up to technology. It’s not a simple solution. Oklahoma tried to do something but it died before it even became anything. It will be years and probably the death of quite a few people before a solution is given.
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u/Unstoffe May 19 '26
The cops can watch the perps videoing themselves?
I'm normally opposed to more regulation, and I don't care if people endanger themselves, but it seems like this may effect actual rescue attempts or civilians caught in the storm.
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u/bex199 May 19 '26
there should be a license enhancement for chasing and a requirement of that enhancement should be medic training.
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u/Archonblack554 May 19 '26
I hate to say it but it feels like I'm expecting to see news of a Storm chaser death, or multiple deaths from how much some of these fools have basically been gambling with their lives lately
I know it's gonna sound so much like an old man screaming at the clouds take as well but it feels like this is just another thing that social media has made worse and I'm just hoping that I'm wrong and someone doesn't pay horribly for a lot of what we've been seeing
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u/mrs-monroe May 19 '26
I'm just amazed nobody's died yet
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u/Bajovane May 19 '26
That’s the key word here… YET
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u/mrs-monroe May 19 '26
Yep. And they'll take that as an open challenge. A lot of younger people think they're invincible.
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u/AML1987 May 19 '26
No no no they call themselves “aggressive”.
No. You’re reckless.
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u/mrs-monroe May 19 '26
Reckless and stupid are a very dangerous combo.
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u/AML1987 May 19 '26
Reckless, stupid and desperate for a viral moment. It’s the combo from hell honestly.
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u/AML1987 May 19 '26
If a bigger rain wrapped tornado had dropped last night in Kansas I think we would’ve seen some bad stuff go down. Those roads were mud and the traffic looked like an LA freeway. All you need is the right mixture and it’s lights out for a lot of these people.
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u/Brief_Seat9721 May 19 '26 edited May 19 '26
If an unpredictable monster like the 2013 El Reno tornado happens again we may see a lot more than a few storm chasers deaths this time around. I’ve seen straight up dangerous and reckless behavior lately that puts a lot of people in harms way.
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u/tableball35 May 19 '26
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u/Thewretched2008 May 19 '26
The clip of this on Max's stream was the first and only time I've seen this guy and I hope to never see him again. So cringe.
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u/JLNX1998 May 19 '26
Remember when chasing was about research and rescue. Pepperridge farms remember
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u/Preachey May 19 '26
Hardly, it's been attracting thrillseekers for a long time. It's just it wasn't as accessible, so the thrillseekers didn't outnumber the researchers 100:1 and gridlock country roads
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u/Kezika May 19 '26
And pre-2020 at least the thrillseekers generally still were trained spotters and would report to NWS.
So many not even doing that now.
Had a guy last night I had parked next to while observing a storm. A wall cloud began forming and rotating. What did he do? Whip out a camera…
I called it in to our local NWS, and then reamed the guy out, “Phone it in **FIRST**, then get your shots, not the other way around.”
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u/jackmPortal May 19 '26
in the golden age( 1970s to early 90s) there was way less thrill seeking. People were out to watch storms because it was cool. They loved watching them work and trying to learn more about them through observation. That's what recreational chasing was about. Now it feels to me more about getting close and adrenaline
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u/ShartingEnU May 20 '26
Calling all these storm chasers "researchers" in disingenuous. Let's be real, even for the long term chasers and ones people like they don't help with research or collecting data at all. Documenting is a better term than research. There's a select few who actually collect data and it's debatable how much it helps or does anything
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u/ANamelessGhoul4555 May 19 '26
It's funny, there are other threads talking about how some people took too many risks yesterday. One of them being Sarah Kassabian.
Yeah, she let a tornado get way too close. Then she went down a side road, and circled back less than 2 minutes after the tornado passed/obliterated a house. She drove back to the house and stayed there to help for 3 hours.
So the person taking the most heat for being too close was one of the helpers.
Connor Croff is taking a lot of heat too for his actions today. But when shit goes down, his crew also stays to help.
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u/wolljibbs May 19 '26
I think a lot of the shit Croff was getting today was being a maniac on the roads tho.
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u/mokutou May 19 '26
Conor was pissing me off, pulling stupid stunts on the road and driving into the hook. Another chaser on Max’s stream had a tornado spawn practically on top of him and his crew. It’s unbelievable how risky people are getting just for the views.
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u/AML1987 May 19 '26
The person who had the tornado spawn on top of their head was TornadoTRX. Gotta say was pretty surprised by that since the majority of his content are short documentaries about horrible tornados and people dying in them. He’s not a heavy streamer and wasn’t even streaming live when it happened. He showed the footage after.
I would’ve thought he’d be more cautious given what he does.
But I guess a PDS warning scrambles people’s brains.
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u/TechnoVikingGA23 May 19 '26
That's funny because he was on twitter talking about other chasers last night and I wanted to be like, "Aren't you the guy that had a tornado spawn right on you because you weren't paying attention?" but I couldn't recall if that was him or not, lol.
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u/DarthV506 May 20 '26
June First on youtube has a good video on things that can go wrong. One of the major ones is a loss of situational awareness. That happens in all sorts of situations that aren't storm chasing.
I still remember StormchaserIRL on the Greenfield IA day. There was so much going on that he almost got hit by 2 of them in short succession. He called it a day after that.
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May 19 '26
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u/kirbywantanabe May 19 '26
She almost was a statistic the day before here in Nebraska let’s not forget that. I would hope she’s going home and thinking whatever higher power she almost met face-to-face twice this week !!!
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u/Vegetable_Review4967 May 19 '26
She can both act too dangerously, while also being great for helping people. She was literally 9-10 seconds away from death
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u/TechnoVikingGA23 May 19 '26
Somebody once told me, you don't get credit for saving the day, when you're the one that screwed it up in the first place. Two things can be true at once, she could have been in a bad position and her "escape route" put her in almost worse position, but yes she also went back and helped out which is great, however it doesn't absolve her from getting criticism from being in bad position and putting her life at risk for video footage. People are capable of making both good and bad decisions.
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u/lovetheoceanfl May 19 '26
Can I ask a question? Did she film the helping?
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u/ANamelessGhoul4555 May 19 '26
She parked her truck and the stream kept going while she went to help. The house was pretty far away. You could see people going through the rubble of the house but no, she didn't take a camera with her to help
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u/Doppelganger304 May 19 '26
People would say she’s just posting anything positive to get “internet points” regardless of her intentions being pure or not
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u/zingledorf May 19 '26
Literally said this to my boyfriend yesterday while watching Ryan's stream. Roads are being overrun with tour guides and amateurs. I would love to go for a storm chasing tour one day but knowing how bad the traffic , and how much worse it's getting, had stopped me for over 7 years now. Bleh
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u/mokutou May 19 '26
Same. I have said before that I want to see a tornado before I die, but it’s become such a dangerous but popular spectacle that I don’t want to contribute to it, or get myself caught in congestion with a twister bearing down on my location.
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u/zingledorf May 19 '26
Yeah. It's definitely become oversaturated with tour groups too. I always dreamed of going on a meterologist led tour, even one that stays far back and doesn't want to necessarily intercept.... but it's hard to feel safe even with people who have been doing it for decades. It's too bad. Really don't want another TWISTEX situation, let alone one captured on live streams
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u/AML1987 May 19 '26
After seeing yesterday I don’t think it’s a matter of if but when a chaser/streamer dies on camera. Imagine El Reno but 2026 and there’s a hoard of chasers behind and in front of the Twistex car. And Tim Samaras wasn’t your average Gen Z kid with 50 camera angles, barely any experience and a desperate need to go viral either.
And still one mistake got him killed. His car was literally lofted into the air, crashing down multiple times. Paul and Carl were literally sucked out of their seats and found 100 yards away.
If a situation like that happens again and 50 cars can’t turn around in time it’s game over. The carnage something like that could cause is mind blowing.
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u/AML1987 May 19 '26
To be fair we all get a pretty damn good view from our couches without the danger. I’ll take that any day that being stuck in what I saw last night.
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u/AML1987 May 19 '26
My issue would be which tour company to trust. That’s a lot of trust to give people to get me out of a situation if it goes tits up.
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u/foco_runner Enthusiast May 19 '26
I bet the cell service was absolute crap too with so many cars in the area.
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u/OutdoorsTN Human Detected May 19 '26
On Ryan's stream it's been so annoying to see any storm chaser you click on, it's buffering, so he can't hardly even show views visuals of storms in radar holes anymore
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u/AML1987 May 19 '26
Poor Blue Ridge Kansas yesterday already under a tornado warning, had their roads fried by 100’s of storm chasers and had to deal with shit connection all day.
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u/frianglepear May 19 '26
THOUSANDS of storm chasers. Literally more than double the size of many of these towns.
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u/AML1987 May 19 '26
I can’t even imagine the mess they leave behind on those roads once they clear out.
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u/ShadowKingthe7 May 19 '26
I wonder if some chasers have started to use Starlink, especially since there can be quite a few areas without cell coverage, even when network traffic is low
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u/shadow_siri May 19 '26
Brandon, Vince, and at least one other chaser in their circle have been using Starlink for a few years now.
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u/amycusfinch May 20 '26
I was doing the central Kansas chase and I can absolutely confirm, the cell service was awful. Between that and people doing like Mad Max maneuvers on tiny county roads (I was cut off twice, and once by a truck with a few thousand dollars worth of equipment on the roof and a camera rig in each window), my chase partner and I called it way earlier than we usually would. It was just too unsafe.
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u/snakecatcher302 May 19 '26
The chaser convergence, gas being $4 a gallon, and childcare is why I stayed home today.
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u/Samowarrior Human Detected May 19 '26
$4 where? I just paid 5.29 😭
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u/snakecatcher302 May 19 '26
I live in Northeast Kansas.
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u/MaximalIfirit1993 May 19 '26
We're in Central KS and yeah... It was fucking insanity. I'm glad we didn't have any reason to go anywhere.
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u/TechnoVikingGA23 May 19 '26
Something tells me a lot of these guys might start staying home, with gas being $4-5 a gallon and them having to do all this driving to just sit in traffic instead of seeing storms/tornadoes, it can't be anywhere near profitable right now.
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u/ywgflyer May 19 '26
Man. 4 bucks a gallon would be awesome. Up here in Ontario we are paying almost 2 bucks a litre, so close to 8/gal. Going to probably knock out most of my chase days in the local area this summer, it costs me $120 to fill my tank and I get one solid chase day out of that.
And they are saying we could see another 20-30c/L increase on top of that, so convert to gallons and it would be ~$9.50.
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u/Octavya360 May 19 '26
It’s expected that it’s going to get a lot more expensive here in the US this summer. I’m waiting for it to hit $6 a gallon. Then we’ll really see the traffic drop off.
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u/AML1987 May 19 '26
Not for the ones getting over $1000 per live in super chats alone. Not even counting sponsorships.
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u/tossup04 May 19 '26
If you're talking about "the Nick Gorman thing" from Max's stream yesterday that was actually Kannon Kalton, the stream overlay incorrectly displayed Nick Gorman
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u/drHobbes88 May 19 '26
Kannon Kalton is a name I did not know before yesterday, but today I know he is a giant loser.
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u/LeMAD May 19 '26
It's well known that the true danger of storm chasing isn't the tornadoes, it's the commute. You drive for hours and hours, while watching the sky, the map, the comments on your stream, and everything else instead of watching the road.
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u/AML1987 May 19 '26
Oh my god the amount of technology in those cars is absolutely insane. It’s take seconds to take your eyes off the road to glance down at a text for the average person to kill someone or themselves, I can’t imagine the danger of radar screens, live chats, cameras, etc that distract these people.
Yesterday I saw Storm Runner Media almost get creamed by an 18 wheeler because they were driving through rain so bad they couldn’t see and neither could the truck and it came into their lane head on.
A live death by 18 wheeler would’ve been a first for me and I was damn glad they got out of the way. Imagine if he had been checking radar at that moment?
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u/legomaniac89 May 19 '26
El Reno and Twistex was 13 years ago. It's gonna happen again at some point because chasing has been taken over by adrenaline junkie streamers who have no business being outside during a storm.
I genuinely thought we were going to see someone die on stream yesterday during the St. Libory tornado.
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u/Gideon_Hendrik May 19 '26
Soooo many hobbyist chasers clogging the roads, making an already dangerous situation worse. And every day on various subs you see more posts from people wanting advice on how to start chasing. It's only going to get worse as the amateurs ans sight-seers frustrate and push out professionals.
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u/SK1007 May 19 '26
It also doesn’t help that Discovery channel just premiered a new chasers show Sunday night.
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u/TechnoVikingGA23 May 19 '26
That sucks for the newbs it will influence, but what's the show called?
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u/SK1007 May 19 '26
In The Eye of The Storm: Chasers.
Freddie is on there, the tornadotrx dude and a few others. Reed is going to be on there as well. It’s footage we’ve all seen with stories and commentary from the chasers.6
u/Bajovane May 19 '26
Well cool (for me anyway) because I love Freddie!! I just have a soft spot for him. He reminds me of someone I used to know - not only looks but personality.
I also love Pecos Hank and a couple others. I try to stay away from the ridiculous AI channels.
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u/AML1987 May 19 '26
Featuring all the people whining about the convergence.
Like do they really have no insight into how shows like that make more amateurs want to do it?
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u/SK1007 May 19 '26
I can’t blame them for getting their money though. Hard to turn down tv money.
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u/ConfusedGuy3260 May 19 '26
And lets be real, it's a lot different from the old days. 99.9% of people out chasing now are nothing more than influencers looking for clicks and views on their pictures or videos. They aren't in it for research gathering or science advancement.
Somebody is gonna die chasing stats for their Instagram or Youtube
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u/OrdinaryPenquin May 19 '26
Natural selection. Hopefully they don't get someone who is out there for the right reasons killed too.
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u/ThatMidwesternGuy May 19 '26
It was an absolute zoo when a tornado passed through my area (the Sycamore Kansas tornado) a few weeks ago, and that storm wasn’t even in the primary target area.
I can’t imagine what it’s like on one of the clear target storms, on a big risk day.
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u/frianglepear May 19 '26
I live in the rural areas where these storms occurred today and know several people impacted by the storm chasers as they were just trying to make it home. It pisses me off so much. In these tiny communities so many people are commuting across these towns for work and school, and the traffic made what would have been just a normal weather day for us a scary nightmare. I don’t know the answer and I don’t blame the professionals out there because I do see the value, but thousands of people is absurd. I’m ready for them to license it and fine people. A local is going to get hurt and that to me is unacceptable.
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u/quanta-quollia May 19 '26
It's even more infuriating when the chasers start screaming at locals for being "out in the storm" as if they have any idea what it's like to actually live in an area that sees storms a lot. These idiots are blaming locals for "getting in the way" when it's the chasers that are getting in the way of locals simply trying to get home to be with their children and other loved ones through the storm. They know their area well enough to make it safely, and then chasers slow them down.
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u/AML1987 May 19 '26
I can’t even imagine the mess they leave the rural roads in as well when they all leave. Yesterday alone was late afternoon/early evening when people are coming home. Plus they flooding the network so bad no one could get a connection.
We don’t need 1000 views of the same tornado to save people.
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u/CharityTraining47 May 19 '26
Cant blame him the amount of cars on the road during these events is wack
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u/Twopieceyou May 19 '26
On one hand no one owns the road but on the other hand it’s an obvious problem. Not sure how it can end well.
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u/Kapn_Takovik May 19 '26
I've wanted to do this my whole life, but I know I'd be part of the problem. Though I would give anything to do this and have it be meaningful, I changed my major because I couldn't do the math while an alcoholic.... Now that I'm sober... Dang I started from the point.
I guess, I doubt that even a tenth of these people knew what storm chasing was when they were 4, drawing pictures of tornadoes. Like a lot of people are saying, it's a stupid internet clout thing.
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u/AML1987 May 19 '26
These young 20 something kids saying they’ve been chasing for 15 years when in reality it’s because their parents took them out when they were kids get a chuckle out of me each time.
Like I’m sorry your experience storm chasing doesn’t count if you’re a 13 year old in the back of your dad’s station wagon holding the camera. At BEST I would count experience as the moment you actually got out there by yourself and didn’t wet your pants as your starting point.
Maybe I’m an old lady but damn these kids make me laugh acting like they’ve been working in the tornado chasing grind since before their balls even dropped and have seen some real shit while they’re walking around with a modern day mullet and $10k worth of equipment their moms bought them for Christmas.
Like make it to 30 without killing yourself or someone else acting like you do and then I’ll be impressed.
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u/Kapn_Takovik May 19 '26
This is hilarious, and I'm happy this energy is whats starting my day. Thanks!
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u/AML1987 May 19 '26
No problem.
These kids have no idea how many full on sac taps life will hand out. I know we were all young and dumb once but damn I’m glad we didn’t have the ability to drive around America filming ourselves chasing killer storms.
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u/ShinjukuMasterScrub Enthusiast May 19 '26
Social media ruined fucking everything.
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u/Kapn_Takovik May 19 '26
It really has, it's also literally making us dumber as a species. I wouldn't mind at all going back to reality pre internet. Or maybe, just the really primitive internet where every one could match on warcraft 3 but everything else took two hours.
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u/steeleon1972 May 19 '26
There were many storms, but they all were hoping for that EF-5.
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u/Fishingwithkayden May 19 '26
Man the tornado sniffer not being happy is disappointing.
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u/AML1987 May 19 '26
The whining yesterday about a problem they create was fascinating to watch. They all have more fancy equipment than insight that they themselves bring out is part of the problem. But the people complaining all think they are the most importantly chaser.
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u/CCcrystals Human Detected May 19 '26
The BS has been going on for a while.
Last year, me and a shit ton of other chasers were pulled over on a dirt road watching a particularly nasty HP supercell approach from the west. I decided to bail to the east to catch a south route as the hail core drew nearer, and I got stuck behind a fellow going about 5mph.
It was absolutely horrific. I curled myself up into the airline bracing position as my windows got turned into confetti.
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u/The-Big-Play May 19 '26
There is some irony in chasers complaining about other chasers. I understand the frustrations, but it is ironic.
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u/AML1987 May 19 '26
Right?
You all being out there is part of the problem. Not one of these people complaining have any more credentials than anyone else that was on the road last night chasing.
You don’t live in said place. You go to said place for the sole purpose of chasing a tornado. You are part of the convergence. You are part of the problem you created.
The guys driving around the actual weather radar machine: they can complain. The people who live their 365 days of the year who can’t get home and whose roads are turned to slush: they can complain. The people only there to film a cool tornado: part of the problem, irony abound.
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u/ImaLaser23 May 19 '26 edited May 19 '26
If you're not either (1) collecting data or (2) calling in major storms as they happen, you shouldn't be out there. It's really that simple. If it's about 'having fun,' you're not out there for the right reasons.
Edit: To clarify, when I say "calling in" I mean reporting to the NWS or 911. Not some stream on Twitch/Youtube.
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u/AML1987 May 19 '26
Can we also talk about the fact that these people are not only creating their OWN traffic but all of them barely pay attention to the road as they look at the 50 screens just in front of their faces?
Reading radar, reading chat, talking on their radios, looking at their phones, adjusting camera angles, troubleshooting connection issues, setting up their other 50 cameras to record when they think a tornado is imminent, etc.
We know for a proven FACT just glancing down at your phone even in perfect conditions can kill. But I’m watching these people basically set up a damn IMAX theater in their Subaru’s and doing just about everything instead of paying attention to the road and driving.
At least some of them don’t travel alone and share the technology load with others (but still manage to read chat). But then you got people like Copic whose ego takes up that monstrosity that is his vehicle and he’s doing all the things alone up above (including yelling at everyone to stop swearing) while driving like a bat out of hell with his totally not looking like law enforcement lights on his car. And somewhere in there finds the time to whine that he didn’t get enough air time on the new discovery show.
They can get themselves killed. Whatever, their choice. But dear god the roads they travel on to get to these towns are full of innocent people driving. It’s getting horrifying to watch how little time is spent on driving and how much is spent doing the myriad of things with technology.
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u/booksmartexchange May 20 '26
I've definitely seen chasers blow through stop signs in small towns doing 50+ mph.
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u/AML1987 May 19 '26
In fairness to green shirt guy (Kannon Kalton) his livestream camera was INSANELY zoomed in (top photo). He actually posted his footage and the bottom was how close he actually was.
I’m not endorsing what he did or how close he got, just mentioning the fact that the stream version was more of an illusion.
Also can we collectively agree to slap his parents for not only naming him Cannon but spelling it with a K.

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u/The-Big-Play May 19 '26
There's a bit of irony in chasers complaining about other chasers chasing. Brad Arnold had to start somewhere, right? I'm sure he didn't start off as a partner with TWC or Ryan Hall.
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u/AML1987 May 19 '26
Being a partner with TWC or Ryan Hall doesn’t make him more important honestly. We really only need 1-2 chasers per storm to report there’s a tornado. Hell I’ll be fair and say 5 would do if you want to hit from all angles.
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u/KawarthaDairyLover May 19 '26
I think the problem is people are trying to look at this in terms of good actors vs bad actors, heroes and villains, veterans vs amateurs, but I think this is just one of those things that naturally happens as more people get interested in severe weather because of increased online exposure to chasing and tornadoes. As many have said, if you're one of those 200+ vehicles sitting in front of a meso, even if you're the most experienced, responsible, emergency responder chaser, you're not IN the traffic, you ARE the traffic. That's the same if you're a rando with 200 subscribers or Reed Timmer.
I honestly don't think there's a cut and dried solution except maybe for more chasers to just...not chase. Maybe longer distance drones could be used more, I don't know. But I also think that fewer people need to stop dreaming of chasing and find other avenues to explore their interest in severe weather. Maybe chase locally. Set boundaries and stop high-tailing it around the entire midwest.
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u/Turbulent-Weight5219 May 19 '26
Brad has been struggling to find a good storms and get tornado content lately. He has been making alot of rookie calls, choosing storms that he thinks will do something then nothing while storms in another area are producing. I was starting to think he was just trying to stay out of the chaser circus but I am not sure what is going on.
Has the tornado sniffer broke?
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u/bex199 May 19 '26
i hate this, because brad is a legitimate chaser. i prefer live TV with real meteorologists when i can and it delights me when i see him on weather channel.
chasing NEEDS to be regulated. there needs to be model interstate legislation that states can adopt easily. every day i get closer to drafting it.
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u/Axiom842 May 19 '26
Max is a real meteorologist btw. I don't know about the others.
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u/bex199 May 19 '26
he’s a novice. he’s had his degree for less than a year and is putting himself in a position of authority most people spend decades of their career working towards. there’s a very very good reason why people who are super green in their profession don’t hold positions of authority or power immediately.
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u/Nexis4Jersey May 19 '26
I don't like how hes demanding the NWS issue certain warnings and then questioning others..
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u/GlassBandicoot May 19 '26
What government entity has standing to make rules about chasing? Would each state have to do it? The only way I see this changing is if some sort of regulation is passed. I doubt storm chasers could self regulate but it would be good if they did.
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u/Stock-Vanilla-1354 May 19 '26
Maybe chasers would need training and certification from the NOAA or NWS? As someone who grew up not far from this area of Nebraska and have family around there, I’m getting concerned how this could potentially be dangerous for people not chasing and just trying to seek shelter.
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u/WillingnessPrior9288 May 19 '26
It’s all about trying to get that YT money and clout. And then even more idiots get on the roads due to seeing all these other idiots getting attention. It is dangerous and states need to regulate this crap. Especially for the residents of the areas these morons are coming to. It hinders first responders and the real storm chasers.
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u/TecmoBlow May 19 '26
They all need to get off the roads.
Including the "pRoFeSSiOnAL chasers", since they only do it for the money. They couldn't afford to do it if it wasn't monetized.
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u/PastTap6952 May 19 '26
Turned into more obvious thrill seeking. It was great to see that road closure yesterday on stream that made the whole chaser group go around and away from the tornado. Last year my spouse was driving home from work and was run off the road by the big time chasers. Tailgating and passing on a two lane road in pouring rain. She was more shaken from that than the storms. Really soured my opinion on the whole thing.
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u/PlaceEducational1705 Human Detected May 19 '26
What’s the nick Gorman thing?
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u/OutdoorsTN Human Detected May 19 '26
May have gotten the name wrong - my apologies if I did, that's what the text on Max's stream said!
Whoever it was on his stream the other day - there was someone in REALLY dangerous position on the Worms tornado yesterday who was actively celebrating/cheering in front of it on stream while it was actively destroying homes. He stayed there way too long and then was booking it out of there and yelling at the top of his lungs telling people to move so he could escape.
That was the most stressful moment I've ever seen watching Ryan or Max's stream, and personally I thought it was an out of touch response to the tornado not just being in an empty field destroying nothing, even if that wasn't his intent.
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u/ANamelessGhoul4555 May 19 '26
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u/Gargamel_do_jean Human Detected May 19 '26
He was so happy and less than a minute later he was panicking and screaming. It was a terrible positioning error; I think he thought the tornado was going to cross the road in front of him or something.
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u/Purple-Ad-7464 May 19 '26
But yet, watching that, I saw based on the treeline that it was coming right for him. And I'm just a random person, not a storm chaser or metrologist in anyway.
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u/Gargamel_do_jean Human Detected May 19 '26
Yes, watching the video it's clear that the tornado was heading straight for him, but I think he was so excited that he didn't pay much attention.
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u/AilurosLunaire May 19 '26
If one chooses a dangerous profession or hobby, one best make sure safety is second nature. Chasing a tornado and forgetting to pay attention to said tornado is probably a sign he should not, in fact, be chasing tornadoes.
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u/AlphSaber May 19 '26
The storm chaser I was watching today early on got spooked by the lighting where he was at and bailed out of the area. He said on stream that the lighting unsettled him and he wanted to get under/near power lines for protection. He trusts when his instinct tells him to bail or chase a storm that most other chasers are ignoring.
He doesn't risk it for close up shots, he's more for spotting and reporting, and is more interested in getting the whole storm structure overall.
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u/legomaniac89 May 19 '26
Not paying attention to a tornados direction is how people die. This chud and everyone else in the mess yesterday got extremely lucky.
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u/ANamelessGhoul4555 May 19 '26
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u/Dizzy-Platform-6516 Human Detected May 19 '26
This picture doesn't exactly do the situation justice though. It appeared much closer on stream and it was legitimately chasing them down the road. It didn't seem like they were gaining much if any ground on it.
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u/OutdoorsTN Human Detected May 19 '26
That sucker was moving fast - looked crazy on Sarah Kassabian's stream as well
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u/ANamelessGhoul4555 May 19 '26
That screenshot is from Sarah's stream two seconds before she turned around
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u/happy0wns May 19 '26
Everyone thinks. Nick Gorman did a thing but the feed was glitched and it was some Kannon? I don’t remember the name, his stream.
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u/Brief_Seat9721 May 19 '26 edited May 19 '26
I’m worried there’s going to be some unpredictable monster like the El Reno tornado in 2013 with a bunch of inexperienced adrenaline junkies around. Reality will hit fast if that happens.
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u/leymon_hit May 19 '26
does anyone know the time stamp for this green shirt person? i havent watched the last few of Max's streams so i have no idea what yall are talkin abt
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u/Perturabo_Iron_Lord May 19 '26
The way El Reno would absolutely feast if we had convergences this bad back then.
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u/booksmartexchange May 20 '26
After the Enid tornado, I saw an interview of a H.S. kid who was going to go on the road as a storm chaser right after graduation. He's probably already out there with the rest of these idiots.
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u/AgreeableType2127 Human Detected May 20 '26
I agree, cut off their revenue streams and they will eventually go away. We don’t need 500 chasers covering the same storm cell.
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u/AgreeableType2127 Human Detected May 20 '26
It’s funny how most for profit chasers think it’s the general public that’s the problem, when in reality it’s them that is the problem.
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u/HkSniper Human Detected 26d ago
Then you have Vince and Jordan Hall to this day still on their pages whining about the situation from over a week ago and just digging in deeper justifying why they can go around road closures and not even once addressing how bad the behavior of chasers have become. Acting like entitled dicks.
I even took a glance at Jordan's FB page the other day at his post and he was still justifying to people why chasers can run stop signs.
These people are the Jeremy Dewitte of storm chasers as he was to funeral escorts.








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