r/stormchasing

I have spent the last couple of years completely rebuilding my game Tornado: Research and Rescue

The tornadoes use a 3D fluid simulation and volumetric rendering, allowing me to create distinct features like horizontal vortices and multi-vortex wedges.

The maps are procedurally generated, up to 50x50km, along with a randomised distribution of CAPE and SRH - tornadoes strengthen and weaken according to the environment as they track across the map.

I also recently introduced rain-wrapping and chemical seeding, allowing you to change the tornado's strength, size, ground speed and path stability. You have to lookout for runaway feedback loops though!

It is now unrecognisable from the original 2023 version, I hope you enjoy and I'm happy to answer any questions about the game or the development of it :)

TL;DR: Paid Tempest Tours $8,300 for a 10-day "extreme weather storm chasing" tour. What I got was multiple trips to Wal-Mart, parked at a park with no A/C or bathrooms for over 3 hours, broken / faulty equipment, no leg room in a cramped van, actively driving away from a storm, and then finally a refusal to refund a dime when I complained. This is a full writeup so nobody else loses their money.

What we were promised:

The sales materials and their website explicitly guarantee the following (these are direct quotes):

• “Our vehicles are equipped with state-of-the-art equipment”

• “We make sure every day is a day of wonder!”

• “Epic weather displays”

• “Personal service”

• “The industry’s most experienced staff. The single most important thing we provide our guests is our team.”

These are not what my wife and I experienced.

What we received:

Day 1: ZERO state-of-the-art equipment

We were departing from Denver, CO. During the 1st morning briefing, the tour directors informed the tour group that our best chances for severe weather over the coming days was north in the Dakotas. As soon as we entered the van, we found the TV monitor hung for the tour group to watch the weather tracking system was off. In addition, the speaker in the back of the van (where my wife and I sat) did not work. There was an intercom system in each van but ours did not work. We explained to the driver that we couldn’t hear what she or the other van’s driver were saying and she said that they couldn’t get this particular speaker to work “the way they wanted it” so it was just left in the van. We asked about the TV monitor and were told it would be addressed later. The other tour group members were much older than my wife and I, we decided to stay in the back of the van because it was much harder to get in and out of. We had hoped they would be able to fix the broken speaker. We explained to the driver that every time she was speaking, we could not hear her over the van’s air conditioning. She would continue to talk and we had no idea what was going on. We made our way north, ultimately crossing briefly into North Dakota, before turning back and heading to South Dakota for the night. There were no severe weather storms but we know that weather can be unpredictable. We were staying positive and so we were thinking that we would be better positioned to intercept a storm tomorrow. We arrived at the seediest motel we’ve ever seen but again staying positive thought it can’t get worse than this, tomorrow will be a better day.

Day 2: Driving nowhere and tour guides watch their own storm

Today we were departing from North Eastern South Dakota. During the 2nd morning briefing, the experts were still showing that the best chances for severe weather storm cells were tracking north towards the North Dakota / Canada line. Also on the radar were some additional storm cells in Illinois but the tour guides stated that they don’t like chasing in that area. In addition to those storm cells was one smaller cell that the tour guides seemed really excited about. This particular cell was only 1 hour away, so we didn’t need to rush this morning. While we were getting ready to leave the motel, the tour staff worked on the TV monitor and the speaker but unfortunately were still unable to resolve the issue. There’s now a speaker wire hanging down in my window that kept falling as the van would drive. Since this was an “off” chasing day, as the tour guides advertisements explained, we were expecting to experience something unique to the area and were prepared for the “wonder” that was sold to us. Instead, we found ourselves at our first Wal-Mart parking lot of the trip. The tour guides would ultimately go on and say this is for people to get supplies but we all read the pamphlets, we were packed, we knew what we needed. This was a good way for the drivers to not have to do anything for a while. We left Wal-Mart and then went straight to a gas station and waited another 30 minutes so everyone could go to the bathroom or get a soda. After Wal-Mart and the gas station, we waited around for close to 5 hours in the area for the storms to develop. Now, finally, hours later we were on the road. Turns out that the “storm” we waited ALL day for didn’t pan out. The tour group drove to catch pictures of the sunset and a rainbow and then we stayed in Watertown, SD for the night. The most frustrating thing about today wasn’t the fact that the whole day felt wasted but was that at night, after everyone was in their rooms, the tour guides went out and setup tripods behind the hotel where we were staying. They didn’t notify the guests, they didn’t explain there was a storm coming through, they did not communicate!

Day 3: Guest driven experience

The morning starts with the tour director detailing the “incredible” storm that rolled through the previous night and explained that himself and the other guides setup last night after the tour group departed. Hearing this, other tour guests were so upset that they too missed out on the storm that they started a text group so that we could all be kept up-to-date with events since the guides could not effectively communicate. During the daily storm briefing, once again the strongest storm cells were located along the North Dakota / Canada border. Yet, they determine that we should instead head Southwest. The van’s TV and speaker still do not work. During the morning brief, one of the guests offered to use his Senior Lifetime Pass at the Badlands State Park. Thank goodness this guest offered because it was the ONLY unique (aka day of “wonder”) that we actually experienced. After visiting Badlands Park, we “positioned” for a storm cell that was coming through. For the first time this trip, we were starting to think we might see something. We were parked on the side of the road and saw clouds coming towards us. After about 20 minutes of the storm looking like it could form into something, the guides decided that we needed to reposition. We left the area and drove AWAY from the storm. My wife and I couldn’t believe it. Another couple from our group was clearly upset at this point too. We ended up WAY south of the storm and at another sunset and taking pictures of another rainbow. After arriving at the sunset photo location, my wife and I went up to the tour directors and asked why we left the previous storm and if we were done chasing for the day. The tour guide made excuses and ultimately just said yes that the group was done chasing for the day.

Day 4: Parked at a park with no A/C or bathrooms then left at fast-fast restaurant

After another day of not chasing storms, we were starting to feel like we’ve been swindled of not just our money but also almost all of our vacation time for the year. Once again, during the morning daily brief, severe weather cells are now north into Canada, just over the border. And yet, once again, we find ourselves headed Southwest. For some reason, at this rate, it’s hard not to conclude that our tour guides are actively trying to avoid storms. We were told that it would be some driving in the morning but then we’d be waiting around and having another “off” chase day, so we didn’t need to rush. We headed into Nebraska and made our way to another Wal-Mart parking lot. After spending 40 minutes at Wal-Mart, we were then taken to another gas station. After the gas station we found ourselves parked on the side of the road at a neighborhood park. The driver got out of the van, turned off the A/C, and we sat there for approximately 2.5 hours. After sitting at the park, we found ourselves at a fast-food parking lot where we stayed for another 2 hours. At one point during this stay, one of the van’s drove off. We still to do this day, don’t know where he and the van went. While the van was gone, at this point all of the guests are standing outside of the fast-food place waiting to leave. Once we finally got in the van and were all ready to chase, there were no storm cells in the area. So, we continued southwest and found a good place to take, you guessed it, some more sunset photos. The hotel that we ended up staying at, warned our tour guide that was booking the hotel that the town was turning off their water in the morning. Instead of finding an alternative accommodation for the group, we drove an hour to go to this hotel.

Day 5: Called to work

Guess what happened? The town shut the water earlier than expected. We woke up to no running water, no showers, no toilets, no brushing teeth. Thank God at this point, I was called back into work. Unfortunately for me, when I’m called to work, I have to report. But in this case, it might have been a blessing in disguise. We informed the tour guides that I was called back to work and our driver mentioned that because we were leaving so early and were going to miss so much of the trip that she would “see what she could do” to make sure that we at least got some of our money back. We kept in touch with some of the members of the tour guide. They never saw any severe weather and ended up going all the way south into New Mexico / Arizona, the guides NEVER trekked north, even though that’s where the most promising storm cells were, the entire trip.

Why I'm Posting This

We understand that weather is unpredictable and can’t be controlled but there are a LOT of things that could have been controlled that weren’t. Tempest Tours saves money by finding only free things to do and staying in the cheapest possible motels / hotels and will even drive out of the way to do so. Storm chasing tours are expensive. Storm chasing tours are long. My wife and I wasted a LOT of money on this trip. We also were at risk of using all of our vacation time off work. We do not want YOU to waste your money or your time. We are sad that this was the result of our trip. We genuinely wanted and tried to look on the bright side, but this company went against everything they were advertising.

The Aftermath

My wife emailed the company to follow up on what our driver told us, as we were departing, and attempting to get even a partial refund. After multiple emails, the company stopped replying for a while there. They ultimately were not willing to refund even a penny.

If you're considering this company, don't.

Hello stormchasing,

Long time lurker first time poster here. I've commented a few times around here but haven't posted before. I was growing frustrated with the frequency of low effort, off topic, spam posts so I messaged the mods a few times offering to help, but got no response. I decided the best course of action for the sub was to head on over to redditrequest where I was granted moderator status. I plan to write up some basic rules and start directing people towards proper subs for their posts. I want to keep this place focused on actual storm chasing instead of all the spam we get that doesn't involve getting out and chasing storms.

This includes simply posting a screen shot of radar without a real question or description. Posting cardboard intercept concepts, or crayon drawing of the same. "Will xyz get a tornado today", "is this (insert cloud here) a tornado" etc.

From my initial look around this place we have two very inactive moderators and another that has had recent activity, but also moderates some other much larger subs so I completely understand why this one would see less attention. I'm very active on reddit and browse around my typical stomping grounds multiple times a day. So I plan to be around here keeping the mod que short and keeping the sub on topic.

I would also like to hear opinions on what users around here would like to see and/or like to see gone away with.