10 June 20 - 26, 2024 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents Going With the Wind North Texas tornado chasers aren’t just in it for thrills. They’re early warning systems on wheels. BY SAMANTHA THORNFELT A s a storm chaser of 13 years, Jason Cooley isn’t easily frightened in the face of heavy weather. On the contrary, it excites him. He says the adrenaline-filled, windswept feeling of standing near a high-speed storm is one unlike any other. But tonight is different. Tonight, Cooley’s a nervous wreck. Gripping the steering wheel of his white 2013 Honda CR-V, Cooley is one of many tense Cooke County drivers facing Inter- state 35 on the evening of May 25. Rather than the highway’s typical blare of angry honking and never-ending construction, the sounds of wailing sirens and the pelting of harsh rain are all that can be heard. Panicked motorists drive on the wrong side of the road, while others slow traffic by stopping their vehicles all together under the bridge. Although the other drivers racing home for cover are doing little to ease Cooley’s nerves, he can’t exactly blame them for their reactions. There’s an EF-3 tornado headed their way, and a storm with winds that can reach speeds of 140 mph doesn’t make an ideal environment for clear thinking. Cooley navigates the dark roads as best as he can to avoid having a wreck, but damage is the last thing he’s worried about. His car is already littered with hail dents from years of chasing. He gave up on filing damage claims about a decade ago. As he and the thousands of people watch- ing his live-streamed coverage see drivers move in a number of directions away from the storm, Cooley continues his path toward the tornado. He grasps the wheel a little tighter as he gets closer to the twister, which is now just about three miles out. Sweat drips down his back, his heart rate increases and his breathing starts to become heavier. Cooley is well aware that one mistake could cost him his life. And despite his body giving him every instinctual sign that he should turn back, he presses on. “It was my duty,” Cooley says. “I’m put- ting myself in harm’s way, but there were other people watching my live coverage that depended on me and my updates. I wasn’t getting right up toward the tornado, I wasn’t exceeding my limits. I was doing my job.” Tornado chasers, known professionally as “storm spotters,” are spread all across Tor- nado Alley, and combined they conduct hun- dreds of chases each year. However, the day-to-day work of these tornado enthusiasts isn’t exactly as Hollywood classics like Twister paint it to be. Cooley confirms there are no cows flying overhead across fields, no people clutching onto metal pipes for dear life and no race to deploy specially designed windstorm sensors. However, he says the time, passion and exhilaration behind chases is still very real to on-the-scene spotters. “I can’t sit with a storm happening,” Cooley says. “I’m always paying attention to the weather and the conditions around me. Being able to have the thrill of seeing the weather on demand when I can, and then also being more prepared in case bad storms happen — it gives me a kind of edge.” Cooley got into tornado chasing like many in his field: through his innate love for the weather. As a meteorology and mathe- matics student at The University of Okla- homa, he began networking with local weather enthusiasts and storm chasers and took up chasing as a hobby in 2011. Also like many in his field, Cooley jokes that his pursuit of tornadoes is comparable to an addiction. “And it’s not always a healthy one,” Cooley says. Throughout his career as a chaser, Cooley has gotten as close as a quarter-mile from a twister. These days, he typically stays farther than a mile away, keeping his safety in mind for the sake of his wife and two children back home. While some of the dangers of storm chas- ing are greatly exaggerated (you’re actually more likely to be killed or injured in a car ac- cident than from storms), even the experts acknowledge that there are still a number of obvious risks. Spotters like Cooley still put themselves and their vehicles in harm’s way from damaging hail and flooding. Cooley says he knows a few chasers who have been struck by lightning while on the job. Long days on the road in pursuit of a storm without eating or sleeping properly also take a toll on a chaser’s body. But for Cooley, it’s al- ways worth it for the adrenaline-inducing event of seeing an active tornado. “Each time you’re out there, you know there is always a possibility of getting injured, but the thrill of going out certainly outweighs it,” Cooley says. “Now, after so many years, it doesn’t have quite the same kind of charm as the first one. It never will. But it’s all still very exciting to be able to witness.” Today, Cooley is based in Dallas and makes a living from chasing in one of only a few ways a storm spotter can: reporting live for local news stations and selling his videos through a broker to larger networks such as CBS, ABC and The Weather Channel. He also works as the social media director and content manager for Texas Storm Chasers, a group whose 10 members chase, forecast and provide active weather coverage about anything and every- thing storm-related in the state. Cooley frequently livestreams his chases, and says his live visuals of the recent Cooke County tornadoes allowed forecasters and people in the storm’s path to know exactly when it hit the ground before it reached I-35. The EF-3 storm went on to demolish homes, topple trees and kill seven people, including four children. The severity of such cases of extreme weather is a major reason that Cooley stresses the importance and im- pact of professional spotters and what their work does for the public. “Spotters help provide that information, and those companies and stations will get that information out on television or social media, which can save lives,” Cooley says. “Those re- ports are crucial because the forecasters sitting in the office, well, they don’t know. They can’t always guarantee that a storm on the radar has a tornado. So it comes down to the storm chaser and their reports a lot of the time to confirm a tornado and its severity.” Knowing the full extent of the impact a tornado can leave makes the idea of chasing too daunting for many outside the field, but thousands of people from around the world flock to Tornado Alley for the chance to spot their first funnel. “Tornado tourism,” adven- ture tours led by professional storm chasers, allows weather enthusiasts and thrill seek- ers alike to schedule a trip to safely get close to an active tornado. Extreme Tornado Tours owner Nick Drie- schman likes to think of himself as a lifelong storm chaser. Like Cooley, he discovered his love for weather as a boy, and he began to photograph and document storms and clouds at the age of 6. In the technical sense, he’s been a storm chaser for 12 years and directs and guides tours across Tornado Alley, chiefly in Oklahoma and Texas. People can book a week-long trip with Ex- treme Tornado Tours throughout the spring tornado season alongside veteran tour guides and meteorologists. Tours start at just under $3,000. In addition to guaranteed window seating during real-life severe weather chases, guests are also given forecast classes and in- field sessions throughout their niche vacation. “I think that it’s a healthy response for people to look at tornadoes and be afraid of them, but there’s a small set of people that are just enamored with tornadoes and severe weather,” Drieschman says. “We’re part of that group that when we were young, we were that kind of kid that was staring out the window during the lighting while everyone else was hiding under the covers. Extreme Tornado Tours Extreme Tornado Tours travel across Oklahoma and Texas scouting for twisters. ▼ Culture >> p12
