Storm Chasers by: Jackie Rodriguez

By: Jackie Rodriguez

Glencliff High School, Nashville, Tenn.

 

While society stands still and hides from severe weather, a group of Western Kentucky University students and their teacher leave their fear at the doorstep to chase deadly storms.

“We have two different ways of looking at the sky,” said Josh Durkee, who teaches field methods in weather analysis and forecasting.

One way is with radar while the other is looking up with your own eyes. Both methods are effective in spotting a storm for them to chase.

From a young age, students Lee Campbell, Olivia Payne and Lindsay Rice, who are all part of the group, knew that they wanted to pursue meteorology as a career. But it wasn’t until college that they had an opportunity to become storm chasers.

With the help of Durkee, these students began pursuing actual storms.

In their first ever storm chase, the students’ feelings ranged from excitement to fear, but the fear wasn’t of getting injured.

“I was scared that I wasn’t going to see the storm,” said Campbell, who was in his first year in Durkee’s class when the chase occurred.

Lindsay Rice, from Delmont, Pa., said she didn’t know what to expect since it was also her first year in the class.

“It was more exciting than scary,” she said.

The amateur crew had a chance to chase storms over a 14-day period in May. During that time, they were actively chasing storms for about 10 days and encountered a highly destructive tornado in Joplin, Mo., that killed at least 153 people.

“We chased the deadliest tornado (on record),” Durkee said.

Storm chasers search for different characteristics. Some like to identify the structure in the storm. Others are more interested in specific details that help to verify the daily forecast.

“Everyone has a different angle,” Durkee said.

Society tends to believe that storm chasing is extremely dangerous, but Durkee and his students would beg to differ. According to them, storm chasing has taught them to always think ahead and know how to handle risky situations.

“It is dangerous in the sense that you are placing yourself in a volatile situation,” he said.

“But we have a better handle on it than anyone else would,” Rice added.

Storm chasing can be a dangerous or exciting career to have, or maybe both. It really depends on your point of view.

“There’s always new storms to look at,” said Campbell, who’s from Paducah.  “Every morning is different.”