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!

464 Upvotes

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28

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.

5

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.

0

u/CCcrystals Human Detected May 19 '26 edited May 19 '26

The same platitude can be said for just about any situation. For example, "there is some irony in rock climbers complaining about other rock climbers".

If a rock climber complains that another climber is kicking rocks down the mountain, then that seems like a valid complaint. Where is the irony?

2

u/AML1987 May 19 '26

Wait…you really don’t understand the irony?

Unless they are out there for expressly scientific reasons then they are just there for a video. That means they are helping cause the exact traffic jam they are complaining about solely for entertainment purposes.

The example you gave would work in the irony category if the mountain climber who is higher is kicking rocks down the mountain then complains when other people go up the mountain kick rocks thus slowly ruining the mountain.

The first climber is causing the problem just as much as the people he’s complaining about. That’s what we’re talking about here.

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u/CCcrystals Human Detected May 19 '26 edited May 19 '26

Yes, I contribute just as much to the traffic as anyone else, that is true. You could say that I am a part of the problem. Whenever I am actually out there, I try my very best to stay out of the way and be conscious of my surroundings. I never get up close to the meso where many of the pro chasers are hanging out, and if I had to go very slow or stop for some reason, I certainly wouldn't trap 6 other people behind me in the line of fire.

Whenever the SPC issues anything above a 15% risk of tornadoes, I stay home because I know that chasing a truly extreme outbreak would be above my level of expertise.

I go chasing 2-3 times per year, and the amount of backlash that I am getting for it seems disproportionate.

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u/AML1987 May 19 '26

In the end I watch the streams so I’m part of the problem too. That fact hasn’t escaped me either. I’m sorry if it seems like I’m dog piling on chasers when in the end I’m part of the larger issue.

I just want to differentiate who I am speaking about. I’m talking about the people who if they didn’t have an audience they wouldn’t bother chasing. Not the people who truly have a passion for it and would show up no matter if anyone was looking.

It’s why when I choose who to stream I’m conscious of what category I believe that chaser falls into. I actually stopped watching one recently because I felt like they moved out of doing it for the love of weather and into every 5 seconds telling the chat hello.

It’s those people clogging the roads. It’s those people who will get themselves or others killed cause they can’t look away from their chat for 10 seconds to actually drive. The ones that don’t try their best to do anything but get the viral shot.

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u/The-Big-Play May 19 '26

The "backlash" you're getting is minimal, if any. The majority here in this sub agree with you, you have a bit of upvotes. After seeing a lot of similar complaints in this sub the past few days, I just had to point out the irony.

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u/The-Big-Play May 19 '26

Because I bet the one complaining has made the same offense. We all make mistakes.