#tornados

You can, however, prepare. And when it comes to Earth’s terrifying storms, that’s where storm chasers come in.

In my research efforts, I was able to ride along with a storm chaser by the name of Jack Mercer. Jack allowed me to accompany him during an outing in a stretch of land colloquially called “Tornado Alley.” To say I was nervous about going would be a gross understatement. I knew I was possibly risking my life in the name of research.

My worries were lessened slightly when Jack gave me a tour of his specialized storm chasing vehicle. It was a heavy-duty truck (see report 0003 about common means of transportation) outfitted with steel armor, bulletproof glass, a rather impressive hydraulic system, satellite sensors, a rocket launcher, and my personal favorite: safety harnesses.

My worries were right back and strong as ever when we saw our first funnel cloud. It did not make contact with the ground and thus couldn’t officially be considered a tornado, but Jack tracked its movements closely as there was a small cluster of homes near its projected path. The power of the wind was impressive, but thankfully, the truck powered through, seemingly unbothered, as Jack collected and recorded data.

The next funnel did touch down, and all my worries from before seemed very justified. It was truly stunning and terrifying how much devastation the tornado was capable of. Trees were torn up from the roots, buildings were ripped apart, debris of all shapes and sizes was spun around, and launched out of sight. All by the wind. Wind like I had never seen before, and would not believe possible on a habitable planet if I had not seen it with my own eyes.

Jack assured me the area had, thankfully, been previously evacuated. Why humans would choose to live where these conditions are common is something I suppose is my job to find out. When it was clear we would intercept the tornado's path, Jack lowered the truck as far as it would go and deployed hydraulic spikes to anchor us to the ground. He was able to deploy instrument pods to collect data from within the vortex itself, with us in the truck.

Before I knew it, but also after, it felt like an eternity at the same time, the tornado passed by, shrunk, and dissipated. We survived.

At this point, the question many may wonder is why? Chasers have been killed by the very storms they pursue. Why would Jack and so many other humans put themselves in such a dangerous situation? The answer: because they hope to make the storms less dangerous. As I stated before, natural forces such as these cannot be stopped, but they can be prepared for. The data Jack and other storm chasers collect is vital for accurate weather forecasting and warnings. Because of the work of past storm chasers, meteorologists can better predict the dangerous conditions, and evacuations are made beforehand. Lives are saved.

What was surprising to me to learn later was that Jack, as well as most storm chasers, is not a professional. They do not get paid to risk their lives for retrieving this vital storm information. There are a scarce few that can make a career out of storm chasing through recordings, tourism, or academia, but the vast majority of them chase storms as a hobby! A hobby! Most humans have hobbies like sports, art, music, blowing things up, or puzzles. But chasing the deadly elements of their home world?!