"It was an amazing experience, and if asked, I would absolutely do it again. Seeing a tornado in person has allowed me to realize my passion, and I am now seeking a course of study in meteorology." -Josh Price, 2004
"Storms are the reason we head to the Plains, but another great thing about the chase is the people you chase with and the people you meet along the way." -Amanda Worrell, 2005.
"The kind of experience you get in the field is simply not comparable to what you read in books and see in PowerPoint presentations. It was an amazing experience where you get to apply the skills you learn in class and see, firsthand, the benefits of a good forecast". -Jacob Carley, 2005
"Storm chasing is not listening to Van Halen and driving through corn fields. It's watching the wind blow through a Kansas wheatfield, the sunset in South Dakota on a busted day, admiring the geologic formations in theTexas panhandle, seeing an entire freight train-front to back, and chatting with old men in a small agricultural town diner, and of course, the excitement of a chase." -Seth Price, 2003, 2004, 2005.
"Persistence does pay off, and catching a supercell thunderstorm rewards you with amazing sights on the grand canopy of the big skies and open landscape of the Great Plains." -Kevin Myatt, Weather Journalist & Co-leader.
Course Description:
GEOG2984 is an intensive 2 week field course in the Great Plains of the Central United States. Students will depart from campus and travel to the Central U.S., where the class will forecast and attempt to intercept severe and potentially tornadic thunderstorms. Students will be directly involved in the prediction process, storm analysis and documentation, as well as navigation in the near-storm environment. Grading will be based on completion of a daily forecasting journal, participation in on-the-road analysis, followed by an online exam upon returning. An additional activity fee is required to cover travel, lodging, and food costs (3hr/3cr). It is recommended(no required) that either of the following courses be completed prior to the trip: Introduction to Applied Meteorology (GEOG3324 ) or Introduction to Meteorology (GEOS3114/GEOG3114). Please see the link below for additional information.