Eric Ogle, a senior in the UW atmospheric science department, steers his sedan down an isolated county road near Burns, Wyoming. His knowing eye trained on an approaching thunderhead, the car frequently wanders onto the rumble strip.
“What people don’t know, is that areas of the Laramie Range such as Cheyenne, Wheatland, Torrington, etc. are actually a part of tornado alley,” Ogle said. “In fact, the most tornadoes per county in the United States is in Weld County, Colorado, which is just 50 miles south of Cheyenne.”
Ogle is a storm chaser; from mid-April to the end of June each year he tracks and follows storms that have the potential to generate tornadoes. Self-taught, Ogle began storm chasing 8 years ago when he got his first car; however his enthusiasm for tornadoes began years prior with the release of the 1996 blockbuster movie “Twister.”
“I’ve been fascinated since the movie Twister came out; so almost two decades,” he said. “For me, storm chasing is all about science and passion.”
Storm chasers like Ogle have contributed to the public’s understanding of what causes a storm to create a tornado. Storm chasers have also allowed for the average tornado warning time to increase significantly, from 3 minutes in the 1970’s to around 13 minutes, as per the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Ultimately, Ogle said, the goal is to increase the warning time to 15 to 20 minutes.
“It’s guys like me who try to increase that warning time to save lives. We absolutely have to be out in the field,” he said.
When Ogle locates a storm that has the potential to produce a tornado, there are a few things he is looking for, one of them being a ‘wall cloud,’ which Ogle describes as a low hanging cloud with a single rotation direction. This is the precursor to a funnel cloud. Ogle reports what he sees in the field to NOAA as well as KGWN News Channel 5 in Cheyenne. His reports include such information as the location of the storm, which direction it is moving and how quickly it is traveling.
Ogle guides the sedan to the side of the road and gets out to inspect the gathering storm. It growls with thunder as Ogle gestures westward with both arms, air traffic control-style.
“This is definitely what we call a supercell right here. It’s a very massive storm with a lot of upward motion and a lot of rotation with some small hail,” he said. “If a tornado is going to drop, I’m banking it’s going to be right there.”
Ogle acknowledges some of the misconceptions associated with storm chasing, predominantly those concerning adrenaline junkies. Adrenaline is a given in storm chasing, and for many storm chasers that’s part of the attraction.
“Adrenaline keeps me pushing forward, but that is not the main reason why I do it,” he said. “I’m in it for the science and for saving lives. A lot of storm chasing is just watching and waiting.”
Ogle said while he understands some people go out just to see the storms and tornadoes, amateur tornado chasers can pose a real danger to themselves out in the field.
“It can be very dangerous when they don’t know what they are doing and when the roads and highways are clogged up,” he said.
Dangerous situations are the other given in storm chasing; experienced storm chasers are no exception. Over the course of his storm chasing days, Eric has found himself directly beneath a funnel cloud, in the midst of golf ball-sized hail and less than 200 yards away from lightning strikes.
Despite the dangers, Ogle is determined to pursue storm chasing. After he graduates, his plan is to assemble a tornado intercept vehicle and continue tracking tornadoes in Oklahoma, using all his knowledge for many more storms to come.
