Violent Skies Tours - Storm Chasing Adventures

Active Adventure

When you arrive at the base city hotel we'll hold a pre-tour orientation meeting and explain the current state of the atmosphere along with some general forecasting information about what you can expect from the weather during your storm chasing tours. The following day, we'll head out bright and early in search of Mother Nature's most violent severe weather - tornadoes! On average, we'll travel about 500 miles per day and spend the night in comfortable brand-name hotels. On days when there are no chances of severe weather, we'll take a group vote and visit a national park or monument, or even attend a major league baseball game - there are always plenty of activities to choose from on non-weather days.

Typical Day

We meet in the hotel lobby at 7am while tour director Brian Barnes and key members of the storm chasing team prepare the day's storm forecast by carefully looking over a lot of different types of information and even doing a hand mesoscale analysis (method of identifying key information on printed paper weather maps). Once the chase "focus" target has been identified for the day, Brian will hold a quick briefing to explain the synoptic situation of the atmosphere and where and why we are traveling to that area and what we might expect for the day - and hope to expect.We will then spend the majority of the day in our comfortable passenger vans, equipped with captain seating and lots of storm chasing technology on our way to the target area. For your pleasure, we have even installed satellite television in the van. Brian will be regularly checking updated weather information throughout the day and modifying our focused target area accordingly.On a typical day, the storms will begin to "fire" between 6 and 7pm. We will try to stop for a quick lunch during the day, but we usually have a late dinner after the chase for the day ends and we arrive at our hotel in the nearest town/city of reasonable size (reasonable meaning there are such things as name brand hotels and some food choices).

Age range, type of group

Ages allowed: 17+Typical Age Range: 29 - 60Our tour guest are those who love extremes - especially in adventure travel. There is nothing normal about standing within a mile of a real tornado and taking pictures and making memories that you'll never forget! Long lasting friendships are often made on our storm chasing tours - we've even had 5 engagements, all of which happened while watching a tornado.

Sleeping and meals

We'll stay in hotels such as the Choice Hotels line and every once and awhile a Super 8. Food choices vary from day to day, depending on how far we must drive and the time we have to do it in. We do not eat in the vans, so we'll always find time to stop somewhere - probably fast food choices on busy days. On non-chase days (if they occur) we'll pleasure ourselves to better dining and take the time to sit down to a good meal or steak. We always try to make it in early on the last day - for a final meal together as a group, but on some tours this may not be possible, depending if we chase that last day or not.

Restrictions

No smoking in the vans. No open alcohol containers are allowed in the vans. Snacks and drinks are fine, but we do our best to allow you time to eat a lunch sitting down without being on the move. Persons who may have troubles getting in and out of a passenger van unassisted are encouraged to contact us directly and notify us about any possibly disability before booking. Storm chasing sometimes requires very quick action to get back in a van and re-position in a safer location.

Rates

Tour Schedule and Rates at: violentskiestours

Other Information

We will travel just about anywhere to find severe storms and will not be limited or confined to any single state. States you can expect to visit are: Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin and in some situations possibly others.

Discounts Offered

# Returning Tour Guest- 10% Discount (Applies to single tours only).# Multiple Tour Discount- Signup for any 2 consecutive tours and get a 15% overall discount.# Room-Sharing Discount- $150 off for 6-day tours ($75 per-person).- $250 off for 10-day tours ($125 per-person).# Group Discounts- Groups of 4 or more will receive $99.95 off per-person.# ARRL Discounts- Got your ham ticket? Member of ARRL? Show us and receive a 10% Discount.*# Students Discounts- Students with valid Student ID receive a 10% Discount.*# NOAA Employee Discounts- NOAA full-time Employees receive a 10% Discount.*# Police, Fire and Emergency Management Employee Appreciation Discounts- Full-time employees of any city, state or federal law enforcement, fire or emergency management agency will receive a 10% Discount.** First Time Customers Only