Into the Heart of the Storm

BY LAUREN FILIPPINI (ALPHA CHI, BUTLER UNIVERSITY), MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER

Billowing clouds. Darkening skies. The hint of a funnel. Seeing these signs, most people would run for cover. But Jennifer Mitchell (Gamma Chi, Stetson University) is racing toward the storm.

While she was always interested in the sky, Jennifer didn’t start chasing storms until the COVID-19 pandemic. “I found myself driving on rural roads, just for lack of anything else to do, and I started to see cloud formations.” She sent some casual photos of storms to a friend who is a storm chaser, and he encouraged her to pursue it. With his guidance and Jennifer’s additional research, she began a journey into chasing hurricanes and tornados that has taken her across the U.S.

When Jennifer travels out to Tornado Alley, she’ll spend days on the road looking for supercells that have the potential to form a tornado. Each morning, she checks forecast models, drives, waits and checks again. “I always say it’s a lot of storm waiting instead of storm chasing,” she says.

“You’re checking radar, you’re checking satellite images and you’re basically trying to make your best bet as to where the storms are … [and then] you’re literally following the clouds.” When the storm gets closer, Jennifer preps not only her camera but her safety plan, including identifying an exit route. To increase safety, she teams up with a chase partner.

Closer to her home in Florida, Jennifer says the approach to chasing hurricanes is different, as those storms are forecasted for a general area weeks in advance and she can pinpoint the exact landfall location later. For hurricane chases, she also needs to bring more supplies like food, water and gas, as those will be limited in the areas affected by the storm.

One of Jennifer’s most memorable storms was Hurricane Milton in 2024, as it made landfall in Florida near to her heart. “The high point (where storm chasers safely watch from to avoid the storm surge) was actually the garage of the hospital where I was born. It’s an interesting point of view standing on top and watching your city basically get destroyed by this hurricane.”

Jennifer and her peers provide storm information to the National Weather Service and host live streams on social media and with news stations to give an on-the ground look at how a storm is progressing – important to those who have evacuated, are hunkering down or are checking in on loved ones from afar. “I hear from a lot of people that really do appreciate ‘coming along’ with me with the storms as I live stream,” she says.

Storm chasers are still mostly men – but Jennifer and other female chasers are working to change that! The group Girls Who Chase is inspiring girls and women to pursue science, weather and storm chasing by creating community, offering educational resources and training, and promoting storm photography. Jennifer has connected with friends and chase partners there, and she suggests that group, as well as Tornado Titans, as places to start learning about storm chasing.

Jennifer wants people to know that that storm chasing can be for everyone! There are some chasers who are in it for the adrenaline rush, others working on scientific data and still others inspired by the stunning photography, like the photos here that Jennifer took. She adds, “The art and the science go hand in hand.”

You can follow Jennifer’s chases and see more of her photos on Instagram @Sunchaser941.