A Session Spotlight for the 24th Annual AMS Student Conference
This January, the 24th Annual Student Conference will host the first storm chasing training ever held at an AMS meeting! Jennifer Walton of AMS partner organization Girls Who Chase (GWC) and Robin Tanamachi of UCAR COMET, will teach Student Conference participants skills and strategies for more safely experiencing “meteorology in action.” We spoke with Jen Walton about what to expect, and what meteorologists and other scientists should know about storm chasing!
What should Student Conference attendees expect from this storm chasing training? Why is this a good venue for such a training?
Given the release of “Twisters” in July 2024, and knowing how many folks were inspired by the release of the original Twister movie in 1996, the conference organizers felt it was fair to expect a significant increase in people storm chasing (and likely also new meteorology students!). Some new chasers are likely to be meteorology undergraduate and graduate students attending the student conference. We want to get ahead of this rush — and encourage future meteorologists to get out into the field and see meteorological processes in person. GWC now has a reputation for offering accessible, entry-level storm chasing education programming via our annual Spring Training event, held in partnership with COMET’s MetEd program, so we were an obvious candidate for the job.
Given the strong interest in storm chasing over the decades and the potential for a spike in new chasers, GWC and AMS can contribute to the development of a more safety- and education-minded population of chasers by creating accessible educational resources and fostering a welcoming, inclusive community. This training is part of that conscious endeavor.
Learning to storm chase involves the development of several additional, important skill sets that don’t directly translate out of what folks learn from a meteorology degree. As we all know, when it comes to weather, things don’t always work out the way we think they will, and no two storms will behave exactly the same way because of constantly evolving environmental factors. So even if you have a solid atmospheric science background, it’s helpful to pair an understanding of forecasting with other skills. For example, topics such as translating radar to reality, chase strategy and positioning, safety planning and strategy, and knowing how to prepare for a day in the field are all useful for a budding chaser. Those things definitely take more than a couple of hours to learn about, so this training will be more of a “learn how and where to get started” course, with some clear actionable next steps for those who want to continue their learning journey. And of course, we’ll have some fun stories and videos to share.
Why would atmospheric scientists want to chase storms?
I like to quote Ginger Zee on this one, because she’s a longtime storm chaser who is a big proponent of meteorologists experiencing severe weather firsthand. From her perspective, storm chasing really drives home a deeper understanding of severe weather and the dynamics at play during a severe event. It can also ultimately help meteorologists better communicate with their audience, when relevant, because they have actually experienced some of what they are forecasting firsthand.
I think there is much to be gained from getting outside for a day or more — seeing weather in action really fills in the gaps when it comes to understanding how various processes take place. For example, storms might look structurally similar on radar, but every storm is completely unique in some way. The only way to fully understand that is through experience. Even if folks have no plans to include field work in their future endeavors, understanding how severe weather can evolve, seeing it with your own eyes, and even perhaps witnessing some of the impacts it can have on people and property can more fully develop a new meteorologist. Some folks have made career decisions, like pairing emergency management or public health with meteorology, based on their personal experiences in the field. You just never know.
How did you get into storm chasing, and what made you want to teach others?
I’ve had a 20-year career in environmental and climate communication, but always assumed chasing wasn’t for me — until one day I decided that was silly because I’ve always been pretty obsessed with severe weather. I finally sent myself on a storm chasing tour in 2018 to check it out. I saw my first tornado on my own shortly after that, 45 minutes from my home in Colorado, and the rest is history. I spent the following several years studying forecasting, learning via making lots of mistakes chasing on my own, and discovering the very real joy of witnessing some truly incredible stuff.
The creation and evolution of GWC is rooted in that journey. Due to my background, I had the wherewithal and tenacity to find the people and resources I needed to learn to chase, but it wasn’t easy, and there was very little training available. My storm chasing tour folks gave me the basics and I continued on my own from there. It seemed like a no brainer to start pushing out resource listings and soon, trainings, via GWC. Our attendance at Spring Training in 2023, our first year, blew me away, and then we nearly doubled that number in 2024.
I’m excited to continue to expand this type of education into different weather circles, and even more excited to bring it to AMS!
Why is increasing accessibility and diversity in weather and storm chasing so important right now?
There’s clearly interest in learning about chasing and severe weather, and I think a bit of a hunger for learning in safe, welcoming environments. The sciences don’t always seem terribly open to a general enthusiast, yet weather affects literally everyone on the planet. It’s crucial that people understand the basics of how to keep themselves and their loved ones safe, especially as the frequency and intensity of severe weather events continue to increase globally. Now is not the time for people to feel like they aren’t welcome in a learning environment, no matter their gender, ethnicity, background or knowledge level.
Does GWC offer other resources for people interested in storm chasing safely?
If folks would like to take the next step after the student conference training — or aren’t attending the Student Conference — I certainly encourage them to check out our library of free learning resources we maintain on the Girls Who Chase Education page. And if active training is more someone’s style, definitely check out Spring Training 2025, a one-day, virtual, affordable training event that offers in-depth foundational, operational and accessible information and training material for storm chasers at all levels, and the chance to speak with experts in the field. We record every Spring Training event as well, to create a library of resources people can use to start learning anytime!
Learn more about this training, and about the AMS Student Conference!
Photo at top: Photo “Walsh Mothership,” by Michael Seger, won Member’s Choice in the 2023 AMS Weather Band Photo Contest.