Casa Grande

Storm chasing is not as simple as driving to the clouds. To effectively chase one must forecast ahead, understand the terrain and how the weather reacts at different elevations. Next is the actual deployment and intercept, which thanks to the locations there never seems to be a road when you need one.

Arizona is an area with varying terrain, it’s not as simple as forecasting or chasing in the plains where things are commonly flat. The Monsoon, for instance, initially builds in the mountains east of the Phoenix metro area and around Tucson. As the season progresses it moves up into the valley; to which has it’s own special areas.

Gold Canyon

Gold Canyon

One of my preferred spots for intercepting a storm is east on US60 about 30 miles out. Due to the mountains in that corridor, the atmosphere receives the warming it needs making the storms appear to like that area. The area is nice with a mix of mountains and flat desert making intercepting, recording video and taking photos relatively easy.

SR-87

On longer chases throughout the state there are a few options. High mountains around Flagstaff allow for some great storms with high precip, however any storms building between the valley and Flagstaff are hard to intercept due to said mountains.

I’ve spent some time in the Globe area, about an hour east of the metro area here. There’s some elevation, enough to get some storm activity going, but over the years the road system has been improved some. My biggest hurdle is the 2 lane roads in the valleys… tons of rock slides. Who says hail has to be the only dangerous thing falling from the sky.

Picacho Peak

My preferred long distance route is the Tucson corridor. Flat, level, open desert. Not too many places to get off the highway but an easy drive. Tucson is known for some great storms and is where chaser and photographer Warren Faidley got his start years ago.

Any time I’m preparing a chase I take these factors into account. It’s not just about travel time and distance but also where I’ll end up, will there be enough area for quality video, will there be opportunities to do some photography. Through the entire trip I’m re-evaluating the weather conditions, thinking of where to deploy and safety… not always a relaxing way to spend a weekend but always amazing to see and capture the beauty out in the state.