Most choose to stay indoors during heavy storms involving wind, hail and lightening. Certainly, the majority of people prefer to avoid severe weather events, including tornadoes and hurricanes. Yet Chris Chittick has deliberately followed storms to film them for popular television programs such as Storm Chasers on the Discovery Channel. He currently appears on CMT's Tornado Hunters in Canada along with team members Greg Johnson and Ricky Forbes. Chittick talked about his career as a storm chaser on the night of Friday, August 23 to an engaged audience at the Assiniboia Civic Arena.
“I was born and raised in Michigan. I went to CMU (Central Michigan University) to study business.” But Chittick became less interested in business studies as he developed an infatuation with storm chasing. Storm chasing involves the quest for hazardous weather. Storm chasers seek extreme weather out of curiosity, adventure, scientific investigation, or for media coverage.
Chittick discussed how he started chasing storms in the late 1990s. Eventually, he was approached by the Discovery Channel to help produce the show, Storm Chasers. Storm Chasers was a reality television series first airing on the Discovery Channel in October 2007. The program ran on the network for five seasons until 2012. The show followed teams of storm chasers racing after tornadoes ripping through the so-called Tornado Alley in the United States, where many extreme storms have historically occurred. Although Chittick’s obsession with extreme weather is puzzling to many people, he is very content with this self-selected career as a storm chaser who videotapes tornadoes, hailstorms and other categories of harsh weather.
“I’m a big believer in following your passion in life,” Chittick said, further advising the children in the audience to respect their dreams if they are searching for success.
Chittick has a vast familiarity with intense weather. He’s especially knowledgeable about tornadoes. In North America, the tornado season runs from March to July. According to Chittick, dry air from the Canadian Rockies conflicts with the moist air originating from the Gulf of Mexico. In areas where warm dry air and moist air clash, thunderstorms, tornadoes and other extreme weather incidents might occur. Tornadoes can strike in any part of the United Stations, but they mostly happen in an area designated as Tornado Alley – a region comprising much of the Midwest and the Great Plains. Tornadoes are also frequent in the Canadian Prairies and Southwestern Ontario. “There are 1300 tornadoes a year in North America,” Chittick said.
Whenever Chittick is out to chase a storm with his team in their Kevlar armoured Ford F-150, he has specific goals to address, such as capturing quality footage. He also studies the ground reports and keeps aware of any changes in the weather. Finally, Chittick is prepared to act as a first responder if he and the team should ever come across injured parties during storms.
