Oklahoma City's KWTV Channel 9, sits right in the middle of Tornado Alley, and they take their responsibility to keep citizens warned of impending storms very seriously. Channel 9's Senior Storm Chaser, Val Castor, has already logged thousands of miles in the last few weeks chasing potential tornadoes, funnel clouds and hail storms with his Davis Weather Monitor II.

As a meteorologist who spends a lot of his time sitting in front a computer screen and squinting over weather maps, Val loves to see weather and nature first hand. "It's the most exciting part of my job," he told us. But Val and his Weather Monitor II don't go looking for storms just for the heart-pounding fun of it. "It is very important to the TV station that we provide accurate warnings to the public to save lives. To do something I love while helping people is really fantastic."

Val and his fellow Oklahomans remember May 3, 1999 very clearly. A high-F5 tornado destroyed well-built brick buildings, and carried automobiles ¼ mile. "44 people were killed by that tornado," Val told us. "But the NWS calculated that 800 people would die in such a storm in this populated area. The media was able to provide timely warning and save lives."

An experienced storm chaser in Oklahoma, Kansas and the Texas panhandle, Val marvels at the tenacity of Davis equipment. "My Weather Monitor II has survived 105 mph winds and softball sized hail that smashed my windshield," he told us. But Val feels the biggest benefit of his Davis equipment is its ability to report accurate winds speeds which are relayed back to the station for immediate airing. "And another benefit," he added, "is that the humidity/temperature sensors let us know when we cross boundaries. Identifying temperature/dew point boundaries is key in tornado prediction."

Other storm chasers know how Val feels in the presence of such power and beauty. The hobby of storm chasing, partially fueled by the exciting, but not terribly accurate, movie "Twister," has been steadily growing. There are even several storm-chasing tour companies that will take you out to get up-close and personal with nature - for fun! Storm chasing is a hobby meant for pros. The excitement it brings is closely related to the very real danger in which the hobbyist is placed. We at Davis don't suggest that you follow the next funnel cloud you see - but we do like to hear about the adventures of those pros who know how to do it safely.

One Davis weather station that goes storm chasing belongs to Jeremy Stickle, of Manns Harbor, NC. Jeremy remembers riding in the car with his parents as a seven-year old. They were traveling through a swamp area when two bolts of pink lightning struck nearby, angling in toward each other to form a diamond shape. From that moment on, Jeremy had a passion for weather. Jeremy lists the tropical storms that he has "known" like old friends: Floyd, Fran, Dennis, Bonnie, and Felix. An amateur meteorologist, Jeremy is wise enough to model his storm chasing on the legendary storm chaser Howard Bluestein who keeps his crew and equipment at least two miles away from storms - three miles from tornados. Jeremy finds as much to learn and see in the aftermath of a storm, when the immediate danger has passed. He photographs sunsets and storm damage alike, seeing the sort of terrible beauty only weather lovers truly appreciate.

Storm chasers aren't the only ones who put Davis weather stations to good use during storm season. Storm spotters, unlike storm chasers, use their equipment and knowledge to provide warning to citizens of a particular area. John Van Pelt's truck is a high tech weather instrument on wheels, and he uses it to spot storms and to educate people about storm safety as part of Central Carolina Skywarn. John's Storm Study project's goal is to provide "constant public awareness of severe weather threats to the people of central North Carolina including threats from tropical weather that may come inland. We also help gather weather data for the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Raleigh that's helpful in forecasting and verifying severe weather, through our affiliation with Central Carolina Skywarn (http://www.ccskywarn.net/ ), the volunteer spotter organization in our part of North Carolina." When not out patrolling for impending storms, John's truck and trailer make regular appearances at schools and community events. You can learn a lot about all kinds of severe weather on the Storm Study home page at http://www.stormstudy.com.

The web is full of resources on understanding, spotting, (and chasing) storms. Tornado safety tips can be found on FEMA's webpage at http://www.fema.gov/library/tornadof.htm. Storm Track magazine has pages and pages of interesting and clearly presented materials. It's at http://www.stormtrack.org. One of our favorite finds on that site is an article written back in 1982 by David Hoadley as an eloquent response to the question, "Why Chase Tornadoes?" You can find his article at http://www.stormtrack.org/library/chasing/whychas.htm. Chuck Doswell's "FAQs About Storm Chasing and Tornados" at http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/~doswell/ChasFAQ.html is another good resource.

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