I’m a meteorologist with a Ph.D., 15 years of university teaching and research experience, nearly 40 peer-reviewed articles published and 5,000 students taught. But zero tornadoes chased and zero associated fatalities.
I grew up in Birmingham, Ala., where tornadoes are tragedies, not photo opportunities. At least four times in my life, funnel clouds or tornadoes (three killer tornadoes, two EF3 or higher on the Enhanced Fujita Scale) have come within a couple of miles or less of my location as I went about my normal business. I never needed to chase tornadoes; they came to me.
In 1996, the year I completed my Ph.D., the movie “Twister” came out, based partly on the National Science Foundation-funded VORTEX (Verification of the Origins of Rotation in Tornadoes Experiment) program. Worldwide, the film grossed almost one-half billion dollars at the turnstiles and turned “storm chasing” into a household phrase overnight.
Full Opinion Piece here: http://www.baxterbulletin.com/article/2 ... eteorology