I'm confused at how this dude adam says you could get someone else killed. it doesn't even make sense,i loved the video,awesome job andy! I think people need to worry about themselves and stop whining about nothing. most of all we all love storm chasing and severe weather.

Its almost hilarious that people try to compete sometimes... most of all this person adam makes himself sound horrible. I could care less who has what for education. just understand what you are chasing, respect it and be safe. most of all adam your rant holds no water - i'm guessing your chase music could be miley cyrus? either way andy has shot some great videos, good job again andy!

freakin sweet video Andy. I don't know if you know but in the mighty star herald there's a full page story about you and about chasing, was gonna call you but your number doesn't work, giuve me a call.

I figured since myself and Michael shot this video I would contribute some insight into what was going on. I have said many times that I have a passion for seeing if only for a moment what is going on at very close range, however I also enjoy seeing the scenic and less stressful view from a mile or two away. Before the tornado went into Hammon it appeared to be weakening significantly, and we were going to let it cross much closer than that, but because we are storm chasers who have seen our share of tornadoes we immediately knew when it was intensifying again and kept our distant otherwise the video may have been much closer. I am not claiming to be a veteran storm chaser or some kind of professional, I am just stating that in my 7 previous years of chasing, training, and experience I have learend alot. I would also like to say, Reed Timmer is a hero of mine whom I very much look up to, several of his videos are what inspired me to build up a comfort level and experience level to get close and know where to draw the line (if you noticed how calm Mike and myself both remained in the video)... I appreciate negative and positive feedback and certainly everyone is entitled to chase how they desire, I honestly like being close, but I also do like to sit back, relax and enjoy the fury that mother nature has to offer. I am just doing what I love, I certainly don't suggest or tell anyone to get as close as I have on many occasions, it's a personal choice and I just hope that people can just enjoy the weather and chase, everyone is always fighting and argueing about who is doing what, we all have a common interest and that's severe weather... let's put all the competition behind us, and do what really matters while we are shooting our video or taking our still photos and report the weather via phone, or spotter network, there is no doubt in my mind the chasers out there from TVN to CTV to SS all played a role on the 8th in keeping people safe by reporting what was happening. Let's all look forward to an exciting severe weather season!

Best of luck to everyone, chase safe,

Here is the almost full length video below....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCBUAh7PHI8

Thank you,

Andy Gabrielson
www.findthetornado.com
www.severestudios.com
www.tornadochat.com

Adam,

Thanks for the follow up. Just one thing (grins). I don't think that Reed would do anything to put others in harms way either. The TVN team also advise EMR's and/or NWS personnel when they're on TOR or other severe WX.

I know TVN is our competition, but just because they're doing it themselves and with the Discovery channel doesn't mean that they're solely cowboying it up.

I'm sure Reed and anyone else in that Dominator of theirs knows full well the risks and they definatley don't condone anyone else doing what they're doing.

I'm prepared to give them the benefit of the doubt for right now realizing we are just seeing what's been cut out for on air use. I'm sure there's quite a bit of off camera planning that goes on.

I've only met Reed once. That was when they called they chase off in Gallatin, MO last year. "It was for safety reasons". That was the first thing out of his mouth.

I appreciate your point of view, but those of us who are professionals, then ones that I've met, are fully aware of their public image, and truly believe in safety first.

Let's make sure we know the people we're talking about or at least ask and talk to them about any thing in question.

Take care and best of luck to you folks down there. :-)

Jeff D Nielsen (KMCI) PLA414
Chase Team Lead
SevereStudios Kansas City
Kansas City, Missouri, USA
(816) 807-4752
jeff@severestudios.com
http://www.severestudioskc.com
http://www.spotternetwork.org

Thank you for your response. After reviewing the full video, I agree that this was not intentional. I had seen portions of this video live, and it did look like the chasers were acting safely. Unfortunately, the media and other people edited this video and
used it out of context. The shortened video, which was the only one available when I commented, also appeared out of context. That is why I made my rant.

I must emphasize that I have storm chased many times before, and always with a partner. Like most chasers on this site, we have also attempted to use every safety precaution possible. I did not attempt to use my PhD at OU to sound like an expert. Instead, I use it to point out that with the exception of Reed Timmer, most of us at OU (and elsewhere) work to put safety first and quality video or scientific data second. I apologize to those that misunderstood my comment.

Jeff, thank you very much for reinforcing the importance of safety, and I just wish that those in the media would do the same.

Adam Smith

Sorry Adam, I agree with your emotions but 100% disagree on the whole "responsibility" preaching. Some storm chasers will get closer to the action and will be rewarded with better video, more detail, etc, for others to learn from, while some play it more safe from a far. Both have their risks, lightning strikes, debris, hail, etc. If anything, I would think these up close videos would make "Joe Public" have ZERO intentions of getting up close with a tornado because we can see so vividly clear the potential for loss of life, damage to homes, etc, etc. Just because Jim Cantore (The Weather Channel) goes deep inside a Hurricane so we can better understand it's power, I don't see alot of people thinking that's glamorous and wanting to do the same thing. ;) I for one have great respect for these storm chasers and appreciate the risks they take so the public can learn more about tornados. After all, on the grand scale of things, while we're learning more and more about tornados every year, we still know very little about them.

Adam,

Our chasers don't normally get that close. If you listened to Andy's interviews he said they didn't intend on getting that close and they said they shouldn't have gotten that close. I think Andy and Bart and the media actually did great jobs in telling the story straight down the middle without much fan fare. Unfortunately, most people aren't going to listen to the words, they'll just see the video and think we're in a hurry to get ourselves killed.

Our chasers exercise great caution when chasing and normally chase with a partner and have several thousands of dollars invested in gear designed to help keep us a safe distance from the storm.

Even with all the gear we use sometimes your going to get to close. We don't advise anyone to storm chase (even OU students) and we certainly don't portray ourselves or any chasers as tornado touchers.

SAFETY is our number 1 priority so we can effectively warn the public 1st (before any video gets sold). That is a chasers number 1 priority during a public safety issue (not just watching the storm). That's what you're SUPPOSED to do. :-)

We appreciate your post very much. If you have any questions about our safety policies , please feel free to call us.

Jeff D Nielsen (KMCI) PLA414
SevereStudios Kansas City
Kansas City, Missouri, USA
(816) 807-4752
jeff@severestudios.com
http://www.severestudioskc.com
http://www.spotternetwork.org

Are you a Phd In met school or psyc school ??? Just curious .. throwing crazy out there .. How about you go take your math class, oh wait dont forget to take your pocket protector for your little pens and leave the video shooting to stormchasers .. its there life and if people are dumb enough to get close to a tornado with out the experiance than so be it ... its there choice .. humm

nascar/ m.m.a. and alot of other stuff would never be done if you had to worry about someone emulating what they see you do...plus most "civilians" think all chaser are crazy be it close up or from a distance...I tell people all the time I storm chase and it's always "you people are nuts/ insane..can I go with???"

this video is awesome, for anyone to criticize this chase is just foolish, they were clearly at a safe distance it was a long ways away, a whole football field and obviously they were paying very close attention to detail, get a grip dude, PhD doesn't mean you can tell people how to act in life, they even said do not try this at home and said the politically correct "we got to close" on the interview, they aren't encouraging or even condoning others actions, they are only doing their own, and to me that's fine and a choice they made... your the second person to complain from OU, did you all forget Reed Timmer went to OU?

Your Mom