Recent Status Updates
- Kory.Hartman Thinks Andy Gabrielson's DVD kicks butt. Of course, I edited it so I might be partial 5 weeks ago
- Kory.Hartman Catching up on so many things that have been pushed aside for chase season 5 weeks ago
- Kory.Hartman Had a great time at ChaserCon 2010. Well done Roger and Tim! 29 weeks ago
- Kory.Hartman is compiling snow reports from the eastern US, again 30 weeks ago
- Kory.Hartman is working hard compiling EC snow reports 37 weeks ago
- Kory.Hartman is liking 10% TOR in October 44 weeks ago
- Kory.Hartman is heading to Topeka 1 year ago
- Kory.Hartman just posted some cool video from Roger Hill to the home page 1 year ago
Kory.Hartman
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About
Kory Hartman is SevereStudios' CEO, video broker, and senior Severe Weather Specialist.
First of all, Kory's real name is Kelly... "Kory Hartman" was a hold-over from when he was a radio broadcaster. They all use fake names, ya know?
Kory started his broadcast career at WIKB-FM in his home town of Iron River, Michigan. There's not much severe weather in the Upper Peninsula, but Kory spent summers on a farm near Garretson, South Dakota (just outside Sioux Falls). While visiting SD, Kory quickly became fascinated by severe storms and tornadoes and the media's coverage of outbreaks.
Kory moved to South Dakota in 1997, and worked for a couple years at KJAM Radio in Madison, SD. Kory was on the air giving weather reports on May 30, 1998, the night of the massive F4 Spencer, SD tornado which wiped most of the town off the map. Kory later requested a tape from Bill Reid, a storm chaser that was in the area. When the tape arrived in his mailbox, it included a documented storm "chase" all the way from Nebraska to the Spencer area. On the tape, the chasers were listening to Kory read warnings on the radio!
To experience the devastation caused by a violent tornado, Kory volunteered to help in Spencer, and broadcast the cleanup efforts live. It was an experience he will never forget. Kory immediately knew he needed to learn how to spot and chase storms, to help protect the public, and attended his first NWS spotter training course the following spring. He made severe weather coverage the number one priority at every radio station for which he worked.
In 2004, Kory became one of the first storm chasers to broadcast live video back to his local TV station. Once the technology was perfected, Kory helped form SevereStudios.com in 2007 and began streaming live tornado video for free to a mass audience via the Internet.
On a storm chase June 11, 2008, Kory was hit by the Little Sioux, IA tornado. While trying to get away from a dangerous situation, Kory made a wrong turn and drove directly into the path of a rain-wrapped wedge tornado. During the event, Kory's dash cam streamed the encounter live to WOWT-TV in Omaha, NE, thus Kory also became the first person in history to stream live video from inside a tornado.
Kory has worked in the media industry for 16 years and is also a computer technician for the US Government. Kory consults radio and television stations with programming and technical issues, and enjoys being one of the go-to storm chasers for KSFY-TV in Sioux Falls, SD.
Kory is married to a very understanding wife, and has two sons, ages 6 and 3.
Topics I've participated in:
| Type | Title | Replies | Last Post |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blog entry | Little Sioux Tornado - One Year Later: Blog | 4 | 43 weeks 3 days ago |
| Article | Damaging Wind and Isolated Tornadoes 6-12-09 | 0 | 1 year 12 weeks ago |
| Article | MODERATE RISK: 5-3-09 | 0 | 1 year 18 weeks ago |
| Video | 4-26-09 OK Tornadoes | 4 | 1 year 18 weeks ago |
| Article | Slight Risk 4-27-09 | 2 | 1 year 19 weeks ago |
Comment wall
FANTASTIC INTERCEPT TODAY KORY!!!!! :-)
My compliments Kory...you picked out that 'ideal' solitary cell, following it as it blossomed from a towering cumulus into a severe supercell. Fanstastic!!!
And, to boot, you intercepted the fast-moving cell with great preceision, and then positioned yourself PERFECTLY to see the hail shaft (my inference) and a possible wall cloud. I'm not sure if there was a rain-wrapped funnel/tornado or not, but one way or another, a NASTY storm.
Kory, I was totally blown away by the near-continuous lightning and the colours as the cell approached the town of Brookings, SD. Amazing. Thanks so much for sharing the power & scary beauty of nature with everyone on the internet!!
(If only webcams were more sensitive to low light and the Sun was not approaching sunset, I can only image what we would have seen....so off you go to blow the bank on an HD camera and a BIG HONKIN' searchlight! ;-) LOL!)
Enough said...again...Great work Kory. Good luck with what could be a BIG day tomorrow, and - of course - stay safe!
Blessings,
Derek Baker
Milton, Ontario
Canada




Great Coverage
Great job Kory. I've watched your live stream several times this summer, and it seems you're on the action most of the time. I'm a South Dakota native and we love your coverage. Thanks, Dave D.