Born and raised in the Oklahoma City area. Grew up interested in Severe Weather and had my first chase while in High School when an F-3 passed within 1/2 mile of home. Followed the storm into the next county just to see the tornado and the damage it caused, got hooked on the amazing power of the tornado. That was is in 1974, been chasing ever since.
Became a Storm Spotter with my local volunteer Fire Dept after graduation from High School and went on my first state wide storm chase in 1981 with a co-worker from my employment as an Emergency Operations Dispatcher for the Oklahoma City Civil Defense. Was able to successfully predict and intercept a tornadic storm in Grady County, OK.
Have witnessed, captured on pictures or video taped over 100 tornadic storms and probably over a thousand non-tornadic severe storms. Each time I am still amazed at the awesome energy contained within each storm, tornadic or not.
Went on to chase for and be paid to chase for Oklahoma City area local TV media stations, starting with KOCO-TV then moving to KWTV-9 where I worked with and chased storms with Mike Morgan, Jon Slater, Ross Dixion, Will Bakula, and others while at KOCO. Along with Gary England, Val Castor, and others while at KWTV. I was paid to chase storms for local media in Oklahoma for over a decade before moving to Arizona in 2007. While working for KWTV was awarded the title of Associate Meteorologist for the work completed in providing warning for severe weather events, including the major tornado outbreak of May 3, 1999. In addition, also received an EMMY Award in 1993 while working at KOCO for "Outstanding Extended News Coverage" for "1993 Severe Weather".
I am active with the few storms we have in Arizona, the storms here are few and far between except during the summer months. They have a totally different look and feel than what I grew up with, but they are also very breathtaking with the vivid lightning displays and the wonderful desert smells during and after a thunderstorm. I continue to make trips to the plains to chase the severe storms that I grew up with every chance I get.
Recently accepted as an Associate Storm Chaser with SevereStudios who also handles all media requests for usage of my archived video and streaming video.