Frequent Asked Questions

Are meals included in the price?

No. You will be responsible for your own meals.

Are hotels included in the price?

Yes. We provide lodging.

What kind of vehicles do you go in?

We ride in one 15-passenger van and one Suburban. On high demand tours, we may add one more vehicle.

How many people go on the tours?

Typically the tours consist of 11 people plus 3 guides; 6 people, including the driver, in the Suburban, and 8 people, including the driver and guide, in the van.

Do you guaranty we will see a tornado?

No, we cannot guaranty that. We watch the weather; we don’t make it. At times, the weather pattern may not cooperate. Out tours are a full two weeks and this maximizes out chances, but still does not guaranty anything. We will see spectacular storms which can include sculpted supercells, hail, wind storms, lightning, and much more.

How close do you actually get to the tornado?

This all depends on the tornado and the road network. Some tornadoes are not safe to get close to, others, you can safely get a few hundred yards from. Also, the road network plays a big roll. To safely get close, you must have a road that allows you to get out of the path quickly and easily. In general, we watch tornadoes from more than a mile or two away. At times we have been within a few hundred yards from a developing tornado, or one that is not moving in our direction.

Isn't it dangerous?

Storm chasing can be dangerous. If you know what you are doing and don’t follow the rules, you can get yourself into trouble. Experience is the key here. I have seen may new chasers outh there getting themselves into positions that are not the safest. The tornado is one of the least dangerous aspects of chasing. The biggest is just driving down the road. We drive thousands of miles every tour. Many times, we are driving on wet roads and among other chasers who are watching the sky, not the road. The biggest weather related hazard is lighting. When there is a lot of lighting around, we require everyone to get inside the vehicles. Vehicles act as a faraday cage and protect the occupants from a lighting strike.