Not everyone likes to see Prairie Storm Chasers roll into town. It’s nothing against the storm chasing crew, which consists of Braydon Morisseau, Sean Schofer, Nevin deMilliano and Chris Ratzlaff, but instead why they’re in town. If you see them coming, that often means there’s some nasty weather on the way.
“People automatically assume there are going to be storms when they see this coming down the highway,” admits Morisseau.
There was not a cloud in the sky when the group showed off their vehicles at the Painted Hand Casino, instead they were taking some down time between storms to visit one of their sponsors, the Painted Hand Casino, show off their vehicles and talk to people about weather and what to do when extreme weather starts to roll their way.
The Prairie Storm Chasers have two main vehicles. One is the most visible, the Dominator 3, which began life as a Ford truck and has had a completely new body and roll cage fitted so it can handle driving through storms. The body has been coated in ballistic coating and LineX truck bed lining. It also has a hydraulic system that plants it to the ground in a tornado, allowing it to get readings, explains Morisseau.
“It’s a tornado tank, essentially.”
The second is much more lightly modified, a Jeep Wrangler with the same truck lining on surfaces for hail protection. Instead, the Jeep is designed to be a follow vehicle, with a more fully featured weather station installed, to allow them to collect different data than the Dominator, explains Morisseau.
“We can collect data from the outside while they collect data from the inside.”
Chasing storms is a life long passion for Morisseau, he was fascinated by weather as a young man and he has spent his life learning more and more about it, until finally the Prairie Storm Chasers were formed after meeting on Twitter.
Beyond the thrill of the chase, Morisseau explains that they exist to help everyone else stay safe. Storm chasers are part of Environment Canada’s early warning system, so what they do on the ground can help warn people of serious weather happening in their area.
Safety is part of the goal for the crew, and when they meet people they also want to tell people ways to stay safe during severe weather. For example, Morisseau wants people to know to avoid parking under overpasses during a storm.
“It’s actually the worst place you could possibly be during a storm. Especially with hail producing storms, there’s an associated potential for a tornado risk. When a tornado passes over an overpass it’s like if you put your thumb over a garden hose... Debris would get lodged under there, it’s very dangerous.”
Morisseau also encourages everyone to keep their eyes to the skies during storm season, and notes that posting pictures to twitter with the hashtag #skstorm is something everyone can do when they see severe weather developing. The dry weather of 2017 has lead to a quieter storm season, but it’s still Saskatchewan, and storms are still a regular feature in the summer, so early warnings can keep people safe.
