Well, tonight is the night you get to see our work from our chasing in Kansas.
Appropriately enough, many of you, like myself, have been glued to chaser and home video footage from the violent weather the past few days.
Almost everyone has a camera with them 24/7 now with high resolution camera phones, many of which can shoot HD video. Because of this, it's safe to say that lately these tornadoes are some of the most documented of all time.
From every conceivable angle, and a few even inside.
Some of the video you've seen has been shot safely, some of the video from people caught in their homes/businesses in the path with nowhere else to go.
I hope tonight's story can entertain, but I hope it does not necessarily inspire everyone to dive head first into the next storm that swings near your home.
Chasers and spotters are important, as they can provide even more vital information to us on the air than even Doppler radar can, but it needs to be done by those with proper training.
If you would like to get such training, the National Weather Service offers spotter classes all around the state each spring. They are done for this year...but keep it in mind for next year and you can help us keep people safe!
Unfortunately, some of this video has been shot rather irresponsibly with "chasers" (sounding more like untrained news photogs to me) that are fueling the fire of promoting the image that its OK for everyone to go stand in their yard and shoot until the tornado is a block away or so.
I'm sorry, but sending out your photographers to stream video and having them, ON AIR, ask the meteorologist back at the station, 'can you tell us what we're seeing,' 'are we in the right spot?' while the tornado is literally less than a mile away throwing debris into and over the car, is reckless at best and purposefully negligent at best. And if they are actually trained, from what I've seen maybe a few are in need of a little refresher.
I'm all for capturing the best shot and having the best video, but make sure you do it with someone who is trained, not one who has to wait for someone to check out the video feed to determine if you're in grave danger or not. And any meteorologist who praises such great video, not pointing out that they shouldn't want anyone out doing this or trying to replicate, is being equally negligent.
Tornadoes are deadly enough that we don't need to add to their toll next time by driving people into the updrafts of tornadic supercells and under wildly dangling powerlines. It's one thing to be caught in a bad spot while chasing and need to quickly retreat. It's another to wait for a 3/4 mile wide tornado to get right on top of you before you decide to move, setting an awful example for the next guy who needs to top it.
Sorry for the lecture. Hope you can enjoy the piece, in spite of the devastation that has taken place the past week with our neighbors to the south.
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