What you will learn
- Why treating traffic laws as non-negotiable is the foundation everything else sits on
- Why chaser convergence is a safety problem, not an inconvenience, and when to just leave
- How to judge whether you’re overchasing your own ability, especially around a tornado you can’t fully see
- What you actually owe someone whose home was just damaged
- Why chasing for attention is a losing strategy right now, and what to do instead
- The one rule that covers almost everything else
We Aren’t Above the Law
The line I won’t cross is simple: I intend to follow the law at all times, on every chase. Not perfectly, nobody manages that, and I don’t hold other chasers to a standard of perfection either. But the intention has to be there every single time.
That means stopping at stop signs without having to think about it. Looking both ways. Not speeding to beat another car to a pull-off. Giving emergency vehicles the right of way without hesitation, and never putting yourself in a position where you become one more problem for an already overloaded emergency response.
Most of the places we chase, we’re guests. Small towns, farm roads, somebody’s home county on the worst day of their year. Acting like a guest, not like the storm gives you a pass to ignore the rules everyone else there has to follow, is what keeps chasing from turning into something the public has every right to resent.
There is always another storm
I leave crowded chases. A lot. If a target gets so packed with cars that the roads themselves become the hazard, I go find a different storm. There will always be another one. No shot, no clip, no forecast bust is worth what happens when dozens of vehicles are jockeying for the same two-lane road a tornado is about to cross.
Chasers need to be less competitive about this, because there genuinely isn’t a prize at the end of the day. I’ve won more awards than most chasers ever will and had more media attention than most, and none of that came from being the person who cuts across traffic or blocks a road to get closer. You can be boring out there and still be effective. I’d argue boring is usually the more effective choice.
And don’t stand in the road if there’s even a modicum of traffic. That shouldn’t need to be said, but it does.
Know your five-year rule
Never overchase your ability. If you’ve been doing this less than five years, that should mean never core punching and never pushing toward a tornado you can’t fully see. If you’ve been chasing longer than five years, you might still belong in that category. Plenty of experienced chasers do.
The real test isn’t how many years you’ve logged. It’s whether you’re capable of saying no to yourself in the moment. If you can’t turn around when the smart move is to turn around, that trait will eventually get you killed, regardless of experience. Knowing when to call it is the single most important skill in this hobby, more important than any forecasting or positioning skill you’ll ever build.
Observe and report, don’t overreach
When you roll up on damage, you don’t have an obligation to do anything outside of observing and reporting. Some people don’t have the skills or ability to do more than that, and we have to be ok knowing each of our limits. Training changes the equation, if you know first aid, if you’ve had Stop the Bleed training, you’re in a better position to render real help. But not having that training doesn’t disqualify you from chasing.
The same rule from everywhere else in this guide applies here. Don’t overreach your abilities and turn yourself into a second victim on a day when resources are already stretched thin.
If you’re chasing regularly, it’s worth taking a Stop the Bleed class at some point. It’s usually free, takes less than an hour, and it’s the difference between observing and reporting and actually being useful if you’re ever first on scene. You can find one near you through the official Stop the Bleed course finder, or take a full first aid and CPR course through the Red Cross.
Attention isn’t the goal, credibility is
A lot of newer chasers think getting closer and screaming on camera is what earns views. It isn’t, not anymore. That footage is everywhere now, and AI is already changing how people interpret what they’re seeing on a screen. You can chase however you want, but if attention is your number one goal, you’re fighting over scraps of a boom that already peaked.
What actually matters going forward is professionalism. Present yourself well, provide information that’s accurate, and be someone the broader weather enterprise, meteorologists, emergency managers, local media, can rely on. As the risks chasers take on the road keep drawing scrutiny, being genuinely useful matters more than being loud. Credibility is one of the last things you actually have as a chaser or a brand right now. Don’t blow it chasing a clip.
The rule that covers the rest
If you want one sentence to carry out of this: the golden rule matters. If you don’t want someone running a stop sign and cutting you off, or blowing past you and putting you in a ditch, don’t be the person doing that to someone else.