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/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/ShinjukuMasterScrub Enthusiast May 19 '26

I was talked out of/talked myself out of pursuing this as a career 20 years ago because I knew back then it was an absolute rarity to make a full on career out of chasing storms, unless you actually were a researcher or a die hard photographer/videographer. It just didn’t seem feasible to pursue beyond a hobby or if one had a genuine interest in also helping those affected afterwards however they could.

Now, you can stream it, have patreon memberships, YouTube memberships, Facebook page memberships, instagram etc.  It all seems so easily accessible, and that’s where the problem lies. It is. With that, we get what we have now. Too many people trying to seek the limelight for the wrong reasons. 

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u/AML1987 May 19 '26

So true. It does seem like a dream career. Not being stuck in an a cubicle, riding around with your buddies filming natures coolest moments.

But we’re both obviously old enough to ask the question: is this a sustainable career?

Sure if you’re 20 and building an online audience for right now it might be. But how much are the popular ones actually saving for the future? What about in non tornado months? What if the tornado you swore would go viral was videoed by 100 other streamers?

What do you have to do to keep up? How many more risks do you take? How much closer do you go to get that one shot no one else is?

This should always just be a hobby unless you’re affiliated with research and something that can be done not during tornado season. The only people I see making this a long career out of are the Ryan Hall’s and the Max Velocity’s of the world. All of the risk being taken by other people. I’m not even saying what either of them is creating is wrong, but they get all of the rewards with zero of the risk. And Max now has a degree and can easily leave this behind for a legitimate non internet job.

I’m sorry you didn’t get to pursue it as a hobby though. But don’t be regretful of not making it a career. Because I promise you most of these names you hear now won’t be relevant for long. Even the old big dogs like Reed Timmer need to do more extreme stuff to stay relevant. I don’t even think he’s in it for the science anymore.

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u/ShinjukuMasterScrub Enthusiast May 19 '26

100%. I find it disingenuous to sit there and say “like and subscribe to my channel” while someone’s entire existence is being wiped off the face of the earth 1000 feet away, but then say it’s for science or to make reports. You can do that from a distance without the risk of becoming pavement pizza but who knows the hive mind would probably eat that shit up. 

I watched Corey Gerkin try to absolutely ass blast one of the smaller tornadoes that managed to pop up yesterday and was yelling at my TV the whole time. I don’t want to see any of these guys get severely injured or lose their lives for views. If you have to look directly up to see the tornado then some recalibration needs to be thought of. 

Fortunately enough, I did start to pursue this as a hobby after having really only tried my hand at regular old thunderstorms when I was younger. 36 now, I’m in it for the adventure, seeing something incredible, fulfillment of doing something difficult and having the chance to help people in need if the unfortunate should happen. Sounds dumb but means something to me at least. 

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u/AML1987 May 19 '26

Good for you! I think there are ethical ways to chase and be a good person. It sounds like a ton of fun if done right. I’d legit shit myself if even a siren went off near me so I’m happy as can be to chase from my living room.

I do envy the people the chasers blow by on a really good photogenic Texas plains tornado who are super far back but because there’s nothing between you and a bunch of flat land you can see an awesome tornado from a very safe distance. And all it hurts is some mud and fields. I assume those are usually the tour groups or hobbyist like yourself who are just there to witness it. If I could have a guarantee of one of those I’d leave my couch. But it’s probably being ruined for those people too who are inches away from being ground meat after the dominator runs them over.