Forecasting
- Storm Prediction Center (SPC) – Convective Outlooks
- Pivotal Weather – My primary source for model data
- College of DuPage – Numerical Forecast Models
- TwisterData – Never used this site, but it’s frequently recommended by other chasers
Surface Observations
- Mesonet (Oklahoma)
- College of DuPage – Surface and Upper Air Analysis
- College of DuPage – Satellite and Radar Products
- Storm Prediction Center (SPC) – Mesoscale Analysis
- National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR)
- NEXRAD Radar Sites – Wunderground
Spotter and Tornado Basics
- NWS Spotter Field Guide
- The Online Tornado FAQ
- USTornadoes – How to forecast tornadoes – This is part one of a four part series they did. All pretty good.
- Tornadotitans.com – Titan-U – I stumbled on these guys recently and they’ve made a number of good articles and videos about forecasting and photography. Most of the reason I can now read Skew-T’s.
Meteorology Basics
- About wind barbs – A quick explanation on what those little arrows mean.
- UCAR – MetEd – A really great learning resource. Too many subjects to list, but I remember this site as the main way I learned to understand radar
Useful Videos
NOTE: You will notice the title of this section is useful videos. There is a ton of tornado and storm related videos online, many of which have shaky footage and excited chasers. Not to say that those can’t be interesting or entertaining; I just don’t find them helpful to learn to storm chase. The videos below were those I found to be educational.
- SKYWARN Basic Class – This video was made in 2011, but it still has good information. A place to start.
- YouTube Playlist – Advanced Storm Spotter Training – A newer series of storm spotter videos produced by the NWS Norman office
- Skip Talbot – Skip’s videos almost all have an excellent combination of footage and educational material.
- Storm Spotting Secrets – Self explanatory title
- Safety Lessons from El Reno – This tornado could be considered the case study on why situational awareness is so important as a storm chaser and why you shouldn’t assume anything.
- Storm Lapse Series with Commentary (Playlist) – Full length chases sped up to a watchable timeframe, with commentary about what decisions were made and why. These videos really helped me realize what I would need to be thinking about when chasing.
- Pecos Hank – TORNADO DEATH TRAPS – Hank Schyma is not only informative, but entertaining as well. Most videos are of his chase accounts, but this one in particular has some good information about chase safety.
- Tornado Forecasting Workshop with Rich Thompson – Heavy on meteorology, but extremely informative.
Other Links
- HabyHints/The Weather Prediction – Created by meteorologist Jeff Haby, this site has a ton of meteorology information. The “Haby Hints” in particular.
- StormTrack – While not quite what it was back in the day, StormTrack is still a great website with a good community.
- Spotter Network – Want to join the ever-increasing number of red dots on Radarscope? Here’s where it happens.
- US Tornadoes – Tornado Tracking
- Tornadoes in the US – Past 48 hours
- Tornado History Project
- Central High Plains Topographical Features and Convergence Vorticity Zones – An excellent chaser created map
Software