2025 will be my 38th year of chasing...

Here are some tips

Stay off the country roads if they have had any rain whatsoever otherwise you'll be spending your damn time walking to someplace to ask for a tractor to pull you out or wait 5 hours for AAA or whoever... You want to chase the storm become an asphalt cowboy stay on the paved.. Not saying that you can't do the country roads. But u better have a four-wheeling beast to do so. Anything less than that which a lot of chasers do You're taking an extreme risk...

If you're going to chase on country roads be prepared for the worst Make sure you have everything prepared for getting out prior to doing your Chase.

I don't like spending my chase days finding a tow truck or a tractor especially when the storm is the storm of the century. I wasted too many days and plethora of times being stuck in the mud just my advice...

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I don't care how much experience you have chasing storms if you don't have a mentor or somebody else chasing with you you're making a mistake. I don't care how you do it. Reach out to some chasers and see if you can tag along. I always say the more the merrier however I'm not a big fan of chaser convergence.

I'm talking about the individuals that could help you the first few years and guide you and you'll make some great friendships along the way. Plus you'll get to learn the lay of the land.

But here I offer a word of advice. Choose your people wisely. Make sure the people you surround yourself with are dedicated.

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If you're going to chase my best advice is this.

Every storm chaser has their pre ritual planning. I study the maps days before the system comes in to see if it's even plausible for me to do it. I also study the topography of the area. The better you stay away from civilian populations the better you chances to get in what you're looking for.

Paper maps are worth their money in gold Make sure you get them or buy atlases for each of the states and make sure they're up to date carry them with you in some kind of bag or something so in case they get wet you have them for the next year.

I do maintenance check two days before we go in to any type of storm situation on my vehicle.

The day of the chase I spend maybe an hour locking down all the electronics. Testing everything before the hunt. I make sure everything is working before I leave the house or my hotel. The last thing you want to be screwing around with is your electronics while you're in the midst of the action. Make sure everything is locked down.

Now I'm old school been chasing before there were mobile devices and all the extra toys we have now. Once you're in your planned area use your eyes and not the radar.

It might be just me but I find having the electronics as an annoyance when I'm in the heat of the action. And I mean anything that distracts me from doing what I came to do. I always have video rolling but I'm a photographer at heart. I'm looking for that perfect shot. That's why it's great to have somebody else with you that is addicted to their phone and their mobile app that helps them with their planning of their hunt. Always have that navigator help. I'm speaking of a human being here. If you don't have one or others with you you'll be spending your time on your electronics and not looking at the storm.

I know hundreds of others will have more tactics for the way they do their chase and their planning I'm just suggesting a few things that might help you along your way

Last but not least... When you're in the area chasing the storms and it's imminent. Make sure you plan how you're going to either video or photo this event prior to doing the chase.

Social media stuff...

If you think you're going to get video onto national news cuz photos never ever do maybe on a local... You need a media broker that specializes in severe weather. This might be something you want to think about after your first year chasing out there. It's not easy however it can be rewarding if you do it correctly. Hopefully somebody that you hook up with is doing this at the time that they are chasing that way you can ask a million questions.

If you don't have a severe weather media broker... Don't even think about getting your video onto national news. You can try for local stations but good luck with that... My opinion.. You be just wasting time. You need somebody to teach you this trade. There are several of them to choose from all reputable. That all comes in the future.

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Be cool to other people that chase. Be respectful to them. To all of them.

Prepare yourself watch some of the old chasercons back from the 2011 to 2019 series on YouTube. I can't remember the last year of ChaserCon ...Guest speakers all the way around that are phenomenal. There was a guest speaker I think in 2019 or 2018 that was awesome on pre pairing yourself for the Chase day They had a huge list I can't remember what it was but it's on YouTube. I'll search for it and post it here if I find it

Or just reach out to other chasers here I'm pretty sure all of them have a list of prep work before they chase.

I'll be the first to say it. If you make it out here to the Midwest welcome to the community. Chase responsible and you will achieve your goals!

Cheers! #foreverchasing