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Tuesday, March 31, 2020

The difference between storm chasing and storm spotting

By DAN ROBINSON

Editor/Photographer

Storm chasing and storm spotting are often confused with each other, and thought to be one and the same by those outside of these communities. It's true that there are many similarities and overlaps between the two. Some in each community can be both!

Storm spotting

So what is storm spotting? Spotting is a trained observer going out in his local community to report on severe weather conditions to the National Weather Service. Let's go through some key distinctions about storm spotters:

A spotter's primary purpose for being out during storms is to make reports. Their main concern is to protect their communities by providing realtime information to the National Weather Service, enabling quick and accurate warnings.
Spotters usually do not travel. A spotter typically stays in his or her home area, many times inside their own county, to watch and report on storms. They normally don't drive to intercept storms outside of their home areas.
Who are spotters? Spotters are made up of law enforcement, fire department and emergency management personnel, amateur radio operators and any trained resident who wants to participate in the process. Anyone can make storm reports, but spotters are the best equipped and seen by the National Weather Service as the most reliable sources.
A spotter's main disadvantage compared to chasers is that because they only cover storms that impact locally, they have much less real-world experience in identifying storm features.

Storm chasing

Let's contrast this with storm chasing.

A storm chaser's primary purpose is to observe storms, wherever they may form. Chasers are out there to witness, experience and capture photos and videos of storms. This isn't a bad thing, by the way. It's similar to going to see the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone National Park or any other natural wonder. The Plains and Midwest regions in the USA get the most spectacular storms on the planet, and chasers come from all over the world to see them.
Storm chasers travel to wherever the best storms (usually supercells and tornadoes) are most likely to form. Chasers will drive very long distances, hundreds or even thousands of miles across the country, to intercept these storms. Some even fly in from overseas.
The average chaser does have more observational experience than a spotter by virtue of the fact that traveling allows a chaser to observe far more supercell storms and tornadoes.

While actively-reporting storm chasers and storm spotters are different in their motivations and methods, the both work together to provide realtime information on storms to the National Weather Service.