Who were the first storm chasers?
The late Roger Jensen is believed to be the first person who actively hunted for severe thunderstorms and tornadoes – in the upper Midwest in the late 1940s. David Hoadley of Falls Church, VA, has been doing so annually since 1956, and is widely considered the “pioneer” storm chaser. The late Neil Ward of NSSL was the first storm-chasing scientist, using insights gained from his field observations of tornadoes to build more complex and accurate tornado simulations in his laboratory. The first federally funded, scientific storm intercept teams fanned out from NSSL across the Oklahoma plains in 1972; but their greatest early success came a year later with their intensive documentation of the Union City, OK, tornado of 24 May 1973. This was also the first time a tornado was measured intensively by both storm intercept teams and Doppler radar — the forerunning event to the nationwide network of Doppler radars now used for early warning.
Related Questions
- How can chasers contribute to better public perception and knowledge of storm chasing through the media? How should a chaser handle interviews?
- There are so many storm chasers knocking at our door, what makes S. Robideau construction different?
- Is storm chasing dangerous? Are chasers all crazy adrenaline junkies?
