Australia Storm Book

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SAFETY

Charles A. Doswell III

National Severe Storms Laboratory*

Last updated: 04 August 1998: link added to "overpass safety" item in "Highway Threats" section, plus added some lightning images and made minor changes here and there.

Storm chasing is a hobby of considerable interest to those of us who are deeply interested in tornadoes and severe storms. There is a whole world of storm chasing enthusiasts now and chasing's growth as a hobby has exceeded my expectations. That growth means that more and more people are doing this than ever before, and some of the people currently storm chasing are not necessarily doing so in a safe, courteous, and responsible way. This essay is an attempt to articulate what I think are "rules" of storm chasing that everyone should heed, and some of the reasons behind those rules.

I realize that we live in a free country and you are quite free to behave in any manner you wish, irrespective of any rules and recommendations I might want to impose on you. If you choose to behave stupidly, there is nothing I can do about it. The highways are as open to you as they are to me. However, if you do something really dumb and that action in some way jeopardizes my opportunities to chase storms, then I reserve the right to be upset with your behavior and to create as many obstacles to your continued stupid behavior as I can think of and get implemented.

Chasing Safety Rules

Basically, storm chasing is not really all that dangerous, if you know what you are doing. "If" is a mighty big word, in this context. When I started chasing in 1972, there were no rules and we had precious little knowledge to guide us. What chasers there were (e.g., Dave Hoadley) were unknown to us and whatever they might have learned was unavailable. We did a lot of dumb things and yet, like many teenagers who do dumb things, we survived without killing or even maiming ourselves. Not because we were so smart, but because we were lucky and tried to learn from our mistakes. What lessons we learned continue to be relevant today. Basically, there are three primary threats to your life and welfare during a storm chase:

The Number 1 Threat: Being on the Highways

There can be no doubt that simply being on the highways is a dangerous thing. Literally thousands of people are killed this way every year and there is no reason to believe that we storm chasers are exempt. In fact, we do several things that put us at risk: we often drive with less than 100% of our attention on the very important task of driving, we are prone to exceed the posted speed limits, we hurtle down rain- and possibly hail-covered highways, we are prone to sudden stops and starts without much warning. The immediate storm environment is a hostile place to drive, with limited visibilities due to rain and blowing dust, wet roads, strong winds that can change speed and direction rapidly. We may end up congregated in groups of anywhere from 2-20 vehicles (or more!), all seemingly in Brownian motion or parked in mobs virtually anywhere, including on the roadway itself. To a regular citizen (or a police officer), we can look like a mob of crazies! A few years ago, a University of Oklahoma student was killed in a single-vehicle auto accident during a storm chase.

There are some simple things to consider for safety purposes that will make your prospects for a long storm chasing life a whole lot better:

1. Avoid chasing alone . It helps to have a driver who isn't particularly excited about storms, who will pay strict attention to the full-time job of driving. Lacking that, make good and sure that the driver will stick to the driving business. Besides, navigation is tough to do when driving, because tough decisions need information. Looking at a map while driving is a good way to get in serious trouble. There are good reasons to have chase partners aside from sharing costs.

2. Be very alert to standing water on the roads! Hydroplaning is no joke, is very scary, and can get you dead or hurt or wreck your vehicle pretty fast. When roads are wet, the water tends to collect along the tire paths, so it is wise to avoid those puddles that are more or less parallel to your path. If you are hearing water splashing under the car from the spray of your passage, then you are on the verge of hydroplaning, if you are not doing so already. Certainly, it makes no sense to chase with worn-out tires, either. The threat of hydroplaning is in fact a major threat during storm chasing ... please take it seriously!

3. Avoid chasing in cities if at all possible. Your angst levels will skyrocket if you chase storms within a city, prompting you to take unneeded risks. Ordinary traffic signals and normal traffic levels will have you pulling your hair out; heaven forbid you get caught in rush hour traffic. Be prepared for school zones, etc. even in small towns (see the next item).

4. I know this is probably a waste of time, since I admit that I have violated this recommendation, but if you have to exceed the posted speed limits to get to the storm, then you should consider resigning yourself to missing some of the action and slow down. Speeding creates a whole host of dangers I don't really need to repeat, here; speeding is especially foolhardy on wet roads and/or in poor visibility. Few chasers have ever followed the speed limits religiously, but if you feel you must exceed the speed limit, at least use some common sense. Don't speed in places and situations where you place anyone other than yourself at risk ... especially in towns and on crowded roads!

5. If you park on the side of the road, be sure that you are fully off the right-of-way and that parking is, in fact, legal where you are doing so. Be careful when you open vehicle doors ... it's best if you can pull far enough off the roadway that opening your doors will not swing the doors onto the roadway. As unbelievable as it sounds, I suppose I have to tell you to get off the road in the first place; thoughtless chasers have been known to use the highway as a place to set up their tripods! See the essay by Roger Edwards and myself. You also should think carefully about the condition of the shoulders as you begin to pull over ... you might find them to be a quagmire, with deep ditches hidden by tall grass and weeds. Also, see Item #11, below.

Most of you know that parking is allowed for emergencies only on Interstates ... you might have a tough time convincing a police officer that your chance to see and photograph the event of a lifetime constitutes a true emergency (I've tried, and it doesn't work!). I usually try to avoid Interstates except as a means to make time; they have limited access on and off, making them a poor choice during the active phase of chasing. At best, chasing on an Interstate is only acceptable when no alternative exists, and even then it is not a good idea.

6. Use your turn signals! Sudden stops and starts, pulling onto and off of roads, etc. is likely to create problems for you if you have not made other drivers aware of your intentions. You need to be very alert about road obstacles (construction, animals jumping in your path, pedestrians, stopped vehicles, etc.) as they will cause you to react instinctively (and sometimes stupidly). Sudden, instinctual driving actions are quite dangerous at the best of times.

7. When chasing in heavy rain or blowing dust, slow down! If you can't see, then you may not be happy with what you encounter (see previous discussion about sudden, instinctual moves).

8. Be thinking about the availability of fuel. Refill your fuel tank before it gets really low. You may not get the chance when small towns "roll up the sidewalks" in the evening and it may be 50-200 miles to the closest big city with an open fuel stop. Storms have been known to knock out power ... if the power is out, you won't get fuel even if the town is still "open." And running out of fuel could put you in danger from the weather if it happened at a bad time.

9. Avoid unpaved roads! Even if you have a 4x4, wet dirt roads can sink you up to your axles; when you're high-centered, even a 4x4 is useless. Moreover, having a 4x4 tends to lead the driver into overconfidence about driving under adverse conditions. Remember that a 4wd doesn't stop you any faster than a 2wd! If the mud on a dirt road isn't a quagmire, be aware that a thin layer of mud on hard-packed dirt can be very slippery.

10. Be thinking about your vehicle's visibility to other vehicles. This means put on your headlights when it's raining or the air is filled with dust. Use your parking lights when you pull off the side of the road. Your flashing "hazard" lights are an option for roadside parking, but may draw unwanted attention with the implication you're having a problem. Flashing light bars added to your chase vehicle (similar to those used by law enforcement) may be illegal in some places and their use to imply some sort of official status to your chasing is probably going to get you in trouble someday.

11. Don't park under Interstate overpasses to avoid hail and tornadoes. I am by now seriously exercised by the (in)famous "overpass" tornado video, where crouching under the overpass is regarded as proper shelter. Parking under overpasses is getting grossly out of control ... drivers are turning them into parking lots during storms, with people literally parking on the roadway. This is going to cause a fatal crash someday, when some idiot continuing to drive at high speed in the rain runs into one of these "gatherings" beneath an overpass. Don't participate in this egregious practice. Moreover, it is not at all clear that they are safe places to be in the event of a tornado; in the "overpass" video, the tornado was not a violent one (being unable to pick up a mini-van) and did not hit the overpass directly, so the apparent safety of the location was really untested. Please read the following account by Gilbert Sebenste (link suggested by Rachel Gavelek) if you want to get a serious indication of how safe being under an overpass can be!

The Number 2 Threat: Lightning

Severe thunderstorms are, obviously, accompanied by lightning. Lightning kills many scores of people every year, and is second only to flash floods in that regard, on the average. So what are we chasers doing? We hang around thunderstorms a lot. We clamber to high spots with unobstructed views, often near fences and power/phone lines, and stand next to metal tripods while we record our images. It doesn't take a PhD in plasma physics to figure out that we are putting ourselves at risk from lightning strikes. I am amazed that we have not had someone killed by lightning during a storm chase; there have been some close calls, with chasers being affected by nearby lightning strikes but not being hit directly. However, the fact that such a death has not occurred cannot be from the wisdom and foresight of chasers - it's pure, unadulterated dumb luck. There's no reason to assume that it will continue forever. In case you feel pretty much unworried about lighting, consider the information contained here, provided by Dr. William Hark and that here, provided by Dr. Mary Ann Cooper. Some of these effects may not kill you but will be with survivors for a very long time.

Being inside a vehicle is apparently a safe place ... there is at least one video that has gotten considerable media attention of chasers whose car was struck by lightning ... they survived. Being in your vehicle is certainly safer than not taking shelter at all. However, there is reason to believe that if someone in the vehicle happens to be tuning the radio when the radio antenna gets hit by a CG flash, they may be in danger. Same for working the cellular phone, or using the CB or amateur radio rig, or whatever. The following are some basic recommendations for lightning safety. You can take whatever risks you like, of course.

1. If cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning strikes less than one mile away, move immediately to some place of shelter (inside your vehicle, for instance). Depending on the circumstances, you might need to move to shelter sooner than that. In fact, strictly speaking there is no specific distance from a storm that is always "safe" ... you can be struck by lightning when a storm is miles away. Keep in mind that you may not have any preliminaries at all ... the first CG strike in your vicinity may be right through you!

2. The first CG lightning strikes often come near developing rain shafts, so if rain has not been approaching, but a few drops begin to fall around you, you may be in imminent danger. I have seen lightning stabbing the ground ahead of moving rain shafts, as well.

And once the rain begins, of course, CG lightning can occur within the precipitation, too.

3. CG lightning strikes can occur well away from the main precipitation area, either in the downstream anvil (where precipitation can be light or even absent), or even well upstream from the main updraft towers and the precipitation area.

Such strikes can be miles from any rain. Therefore, even if you seem to be well away from a storm's "action area" it is not clear that you can count on not being struck; hence, you should follow some basic safety precautions:

a. Avoid being the tallest object around, and avoid being too close to any tall objects like trees and power/phone poles and lines.

b. Don't stand close to fences and power/phone lines that lead into areas where CG lightning is active. The wire can carry the strike to you. I know of chasers who have had unpleasant encounters in just this way; to date, none of them have been fatal.

c. If you decide you're in danger and, for some reason, you can't move to a place of safety quickly, sit down on something nonconducting to reduce your chances of being struck or being affected by a nearby strike to ground. Wet ground can carry the strike to you, so you need to be isolated from the ground, if possible. Getting low is a good idea, but don't spread out prone; kneel, squat, or sit.

d. Don't assume that you'll have unlimited time to decide whether or not it's safe at your location. As noted already, the first CG flash from a storm may be the one that gets you, and you'll not hear it coming. I daresay you won't hear a flash that gets you at all! Not all CG flashes "signal" their intentions by causing such effects as making your hair stand on end. If lightning strikes close enough to you that you don't hear thunder ... only a sort of "zapping" sound ... and you may feel some induced electricity in your body ... you should get to safety, immediately! You're very lucky not to be dead ... don't push it. This has happened to me and I don't like it! And I didn't wait to bail out of there!

e. Make sure that your chase team includes at least one person who knows CPR, and pray that he or she isn't hit at the same time you are! CPR can mean the difference between life and death, since lightning often stops the victim's breathing and/or heart. Doing CPR would save many such individuals ... if someone on your team is struck, initiate CPR immediately.

f. For photographers, such measures as using a non-metallic tripod, or wearing insulated shoes don't reduce the lightning threat in any substantial way.

 

The Number 3 Threat: The Storm

Of the primary threats, the least likely to get you is the storm you are chasing. I like to think of it as the difference between going out bear hunting and having a bear come into your tent: the danger you have in front of you is much less likely to be a threat than a danger that comes on you as a surprise. Having said that, I must remind you that the severe thunderstorm/tornado environment is not very much akin to your everyday world. In that everyday world, things don't change as fast and the potential danger in a severe thunderstorm is nothing to take as routine. There are very nasty goings-on with these beasts and they can become unbelievably fierce so fast that you may not have time to respond intelligently. Folks unfamiliar with severe storms simply may not be able to comprehend their danger until it is too late ... smart chasers never take stupid risks near severe storms.

I shudder to think of what a "feeding frenzy" the media will have on the day when a chaser gets killed by a severe storm. I am certain it will happen eventually, if enough folks put themselves in harm's way. The thrill seekers among you, the adrenaline junkies (e,g, many of those who do bungee jumping, extreme skiing, freebase parachute jumps, solo unroped rock climbing, etc.) have to accept the fact that people die taking risks. That seems to be the thrill for some of you out there, and you hasten the day when the first storm-eaten chaser hits the headlines. When it happens, there may be talk of banning the "sport" or regulating it or whatever. I hope that I don't live to see the day.

Even though the risks of a storm getting you are relatively low, there are some simple things you can do to minimize those risks.

1. Avoid "core punching" storms! For the uninitiated, a "core punch" means going through the heavy precipitation core of the storm in order to get into a better position. Having to do this is the result of being out of position; core punching is a loser's last resort to avoid missing a tornado. There are several bad things that can happen:

a. You can drive into very large hail and seriously damage your vehicle (including losing a windshield).

b. You can drive out of the rain and hail right into the tornado (see the figure).

c. In the core, you can have serious problems with rain: slick roads, zero visibility, etc. (see Threat No. 1).

Figure illustrating a classic supercell, with the shading indicating roughly the radar reflectivity and associated precipitation. The storm is moving from southwest to northeast. In the southwest corner of the storm is the "hook" which is the result of the mesocyclone wrapping precipitation around itself. In this figure, a stupid core punch has put the chasers right in the path of the tornado as they emerge from the rain and hail.

Of course, you might luck out and nothing bad would happen. Speaking for myself, I almost never core punch, anymore. If I have to drive into precipitation and I don't know for sure what's on the other side, I am on a hair-trigger to stop and go back the way I came if I see hail larger than pea-sized, or have any hint of something nasty embedded within the rain. Driving into cores with lots of lightning is just not a smart policy and I personally have missed several tornadic events because I would have had to take the risk of a core punch to get to the action. If you are driving in rain and you encounter hail that increases in size, stop, back up, and get out of there! You may be driving into a core without even knowing it.

2. Avoid driving under (or even very close to) rotating wall clouds! While this seems rather obvious, chasers sometimes figure they can beat the storm to a key intersection or whatever. At the very least, large hail is likely to be present between the wall cloud and the visible precipitation shaft.

3. It is generally unwise to put yourself in the path of a rotating wall cloud, and it's even more stupid to put yourself in the path of a tornado. How can you tell if you're in the path? If the tornado is not evidently moving to your right or left, but is simply getting larger and closer, then you're in the path. This is not a good place to be. Of course, even seeing a tornado is not like going out for a Sunday afternoon picnic and it is even harder to find oneself in the path, but if you should do so, then do us all a favor and get out of there, ASAP!

4. When stopped to view a nearby storm, keep your head on a swivel. Look overhead occasionally, as well as all around. Don't get trapped into looking fixedly at one part of the scene in front of you. Tornadoes can form in many places besides under a rotating wall cloud; along flanking lines of convection attached to a main storm is a likely place for tornadoes. These will be seen as flat updraft bases ... if you don't recognize an updraft base when you see it, you shouldn't be that close! (see the next item)

5. If you're new to chasing, chase with someone experienced and sensible for a while, if you can. You can learn a lot in a few chases if you find the right chase "mentor" to start with and this knowledge can keep you out of trouble.

6. It's a good idea to keep your engine running when you park your vehicle to view a potentially dangerous storm. Having a storm from Hell about to engulf you is a bad time to find our your voltage regulator bought the farm and your battery is dead.

7. Tornadoes are not the only threat from a severe storm! Winds of 100 mph, especially when combined with, say, baseball hail and/or flying sheet metal could do you serious harm, with nary a tornado in sight. HP supercells often take on very nasty proportions, even when they are not tornadic. LP supercells can produce hail from what appears to be precipitation-free air (the stones do not produce much visual light attenuation, but they can "attenuate" you and your vehicle).

8. Rotating curtains of rain within the mesocyclone often precede tornado development, so if you find yourself entering rotating rain curtains (the bear's cage ... see the figure above), it is not a safe place to be. Unless you are pretty certain of what you are doing, your best bet is to get out ASAP! Sure, on a good day you get to eat the bear, but on a bad day ... well, the bear eats you!

9. Know when you've put yourself in a dangerous situation and have the courage and wisdom to back off! The "macho" trip some folks get into is really dumb. Taking calculated risks can always turn out fine, of course ... avoiding all risks is not consistent with chasing storms in the first place. But it only takes once to create a disaster and getting yourself killed or seriously hurt by being stupid is going to hurt chasing for all of us. There's a big difference between calculated risks and being foolhardy. Some recent events have suggested to me that there is some "competition" to get the wildest possible video, by means of risk-taking that most reasonable chasers would consider foolhardy. If the only person you endanger in the process is yourself, that's one thing ... but by taking extreme risks (e.g., driving under tornadic wall clouds, or racing a tornado to an intersection, or putting oneself in the path of a tornado and staying there to the point where debris is about you, or driving right up to the edges of a tornadic debris cloud) and literally profiting from them (as in selling high-risk video to TV), you are reinforcing the image of chasing as the domain of "thrillseekers" ... an image that the media seem to want to pin on all storm chasers. Personally, I resent being labelled a "thrillseeker" but some chasers (including some veterans and media types, sad to say, who should know better) are working very hard to fit that "Yahoo" stereotype. I can't prevent anyone from taking whatever risks they want, but they should recognize that by taking high-end risks, they are implicitly encouraging others to do the same. Thus, the danger is not just to them; their bad examples put others in danger. Chasing, in my view, is definitely not for thrill-seekers, who want to experience enough danger to get their adrenalin levels up ... but a few bad apples seem to be trying to spoil the situation for the rest of us.

10. Never drive into rising waters, especially if you don't know to a high degree of certainty how deep they are! It would be a really stupid way to die, in a flash flood. Some severe storms, especially HP supercells, can produce torrential rainfall leading to flash floods. On level terrain, such prodigious rainfall can lead to "flash ponding" and at the least you could be stranded with a waterlogged vehicle, possibly miles from anywhere. You might even be struck by another chaser going down the same road and equally heedless of the danger! Please avoid "macho" foolishness ... if you have any doubts about your ability to make it through water on the road, don't even attempt it!

11. A key element in staying out of danger from a storm is having a clear idea of its structure, how it may be changing, and especially its movement . Severe storms often change their direction of movement, turning to the right (typically, in the Northern Hemisphere) of their original movement direction. Be prepared for this. Not all storms move from southwest to northeast, so be prepared to adjust your expectations accordingly: the "action area" may not always be in the southwestern quadrant of the storm. If you don't understand storm structure and how it relates to severe weather, stick to chasing with someone who does know for awhile, until you learn enough to be competent.

12. A prudent chaser has planned escape routes when navigating near severe convection. It is unpleasant to find yourself on a road without a feasible escape route as a tornado bears down on you. Ask the experts (e.g., Erik Rasmussen)! Unlike in the movies, if you were to get caught in such a situation, you probably would at least be seriously injured, if not killed. It pays to have thought about what you might do if you somehow end up trapped, anyway.

If you get caught in your car and can't get away by driving, you should abandon your vehicle and move well away from it. If your vehicle starts tumbling, it could tumble over you. Although vehicles are usually good protection against lightning, they are death traps in tornadoes. Get as low as you can if you can't find something substantial to shelter you from flying debris, and try to find something you can hang onto. A culvert is a reasonable place; Interstate overpasses are not (see #11 in the Highway threats section). Injuries and fatalities in tornadoes are mostly due to flying debris, so you want shelter, especially for your head. But your best bet is not to be put in this situation in the first place; generally, getting trapped by a tornado is the result of not thinking (or bad map information)!

13. Contrary to popular opinion, in rural areas it can be quite feasible to escape a tornado in a vehicle ... provided the roads offer an escape route (see #12, above), and that traffic permits you to do pretty much whatever you need to do. The old rule about moving at right angles to the tornado's movement makes sense, if possible. Most tornadoes travel at speeds less than 60 mph, so most of them don't move fast enough to overtake you on an open road [ignoring the malevolence of fictional tornadoes in the movies, or those chasing camera crews], especially on Interstates ... but it makes most sense to try outrunning them only until you can find a road that takes you out of the tornado's path. In urban areas, it is likely that traffic and other things that slow down movement in a city (intersections, shopping malls, etc.) would prevent a hasty escape, so abandoning a vehicle to seek more appropriate shelter in urban areas makes sense. It's quite likely that appropriate shelter can be found in cities (this is not the place for a review of tornado safety rules). Of course, in the "TWISTER" era, chasers might create their own congestion even in lonely rural areas ... .

Chasing Courtesy

Being courteous is a matter of choice. Some people choose never to exhibit courtesy, others do it without even thinking about it, most of us have to be reminded now and then about the Golden Rule (not Joe Golden's!).

1. If you stop in a National Weather Service Office for information, please remember that the folks working there have a tough job to do. There are some simple rules to keep in mind so you don't find yourself unwelcome:

a. Don't ask them to make your forecast for you. If you don't know enough to use the weather information they provide to make your own forecast, stay out of their office until you do!

b. Unless you are familiar with the equipment in their office (because you yourself work with the NWS, for instance), keep your hands off their equipment! Even if you do know how to use it, ask for permission first. If you crash one of their systems, please tell them right away. In fact, everyone should ask permission even to be in their office and if they say you can't come in, don't go away moaning about their rudeness. Keep reminding yourself, "It's their office, they have a job to do, and I am a guest only if invited!" Many bad experiences with chasers have resulted in NWS offices being much less friendly now than they were when I started in this business.

c. When a lot of chasers arrive at an NWS office, it is not appropriate for everyone to congregate in the work area and have a loud bull session. At most one person per vehicle is needed to obtain information in such situations. It is not at all uncommon these days to find 3-10 vehicles at an NWS office. Keep the conversations at a low sound level unless you are clearly separated from their work area. The new offices typically have a conference room in which chasers can congregate without disturbing the forecasters in the work area.

d. Keep your opinions about their forecasts to yourself.

2. Remember that law enforcement folks have their hands full on a chase day. If they have a roadblock up because of severe storms, and you can't convince them to let you through, then back off and let it go.

3. Do not trespass in order to storm chase! Unbelievable as it seems, I have seen chasers driving their vehicles down private roads and even into fields in order to view a storm. This sort of behavior is detestable and gives chasers a bad name.

Responsible Chasing

Acting responsibly is a good way to ensure that chasing isn't associated with yahoos, wackos, and thrill-seekers. Apart from ensuring that safety is a constant consideration and courtesy is an automatic action, what do I mean by responsible storm chasing?

1. Keeping our enthusiasm for violent weather in the proper place. If you've had your home and perhaps loved ones taken from you by a tornado, then you are probably not going to react favorably to a bunch of folks whooping it up enthusiastically over a tornado. When I first drove into the damage path of the Union City tornado, shortly after it left town, I realized that the tornadoes that I wanted to happen could wreak havoc on people's lives. After some reflection, I realized that what I wanted didn't really change the weather (good thing, too!), and that by happening in front of trained observers, what we learned could be used to mitigate the impact of such storms in the future. But I still feel uncomfortable dealing with tornado victims. Talking about death and destruction as a good thing in front of the wrong people, even as a joke, can create an awful impression of storm chasers. Virtually all storm chasers would be delighted to have tornadoes happen only in open country where not even crops would be damaged.

2. Chasers can be of tremendous help to science and to the public if they will take a few moments to report what they have seen. Call or visit the appropriate NWS office and give the report of what was seen, including the location of the event(s) and the time(s) of occurrence. I personally do not believe it is necessary to break off a storm chase to call in a report, unless you have some electronic communication aboard your chase vehicle so that you can make a report without terminating the chase. However, as soon as possible afterward, you should report the event(s). If you feel that the storm is about to strike without any warning and you have the opportunity to do something to warn people, then by all means do what you are able to do.

3. Responsible chasers don't endanger themselves or others.

 

 

 

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