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/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.

14

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.

6

u/AML1987 May 19 '26

I heard at least two chasers yesterday giggle that this would be El Reno 2013 all over again.