Editing Storm chasing (section)

==History==
{{main|History of tornado research}}
The first person to gain public recognition as a storm chaser was [[David K. Hoadley|David Hoadley]] (born 1938), who began chasing [[North Dakota]] storms in 1956, systematically using data from area weather offices and airports. He is widely considered the pioneer storm chaser<ref name="ST FAQ">{{cite web |last=Edwards |first=Roger |author-link=Roger Edwards (meteorologist) |author2=Tim Vasquez |date=13 August 2002 |title=The Online Storm Chasing FAQ |url=http://www.stormtrack.org/library/faq/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140409011212/http://www.stormtrack.org/library/faq/ |archive-date=9 April 2014 |access-date=8 April 2014 |publisher=Storm Track}}</ref> and was the founder and first editor of ''[[Storm Track (magazine)|Storm Track]]'' magazine.

[[Neil B. Ward]] (1914–1972) subsequently brought research chasing to the forefront in the 1950s and 1960s, enlisting the help of the [[Oklahoma Highway Patrol]] to study storms. His work pioneered modern storm spotting and made institutional chasing a reality.

The first coordinated storm chasing activity sponsored by institutions was undertaken as part of the [[Alberta Hail Project|Alberta Hail Studies]] project beginning in 1969.<ref name="ALHAS">{{cite journal |last1=Barge |first1=B. L. |last2=Isaac |first2=G. A. |title=The Shape of Alberta Hailstones |journal=Journal de Recherches Atmosphériques |volume=7 |pages=11–20 |date=1973 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/300117070 |access-date=14 January 2018 |archive-date=6 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211006214613/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/300117070_The_shape_of_Alberta_hailstones |url-status=live }}</ref> Vehicles<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://cmosarchives.ca/Metphotos/T10/ALHAS1_1969.jpg |title=Archived copy |access-date=14 January 2018 |archive-date=14 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180114184049/http://cmosarchives.ca/Metphotos/T10/ALHAS1_1969.jpg |url-status=live }}</ref> were outfitted with various meteorological instrumentation and hail-catching apparatus and were directed into suspected hail regions of thunderstorms by a controller at a radar site.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://cmosarchives.ca/Metphotos/T10/ALHAS4_1969.jpg |title=Archived copy |access-date=14 January 2018 |archive-date=15 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180115001342/http://cmosarchives.ca/Metphotos/T10/ALHAS4_1969.jpg |url-status=live }}</ref> The controller communicated with the vehicles by radio.

In 1972, the [[University of Oklahoma]] (OU) in cooperation with the [[National Severe Storms Laboratory]] (NSSL) began the Tornado Intercept Project, with the first outing taking place on 19 April of that year.<ref name="Grazulis Tornado">{{cite book |last = Grazulis |first = Thomas P. |author-link = Thomas P. Grazulis |title = The Tornado: Nature's Ultimate Windstorm |url = https://archive.org/details/tornadonaturesul0000graz/page/ |url-access = registration |publisher = University of Oklahoma Press |year = 2001 |location = Norman, OK |pages = [https://archive.org/details/tornadonaturesul0000graz/page/ <!-- 241-2 -->] |isbn = 978-0-8061-3258-7 }}</ref> This was the first large-scale tornado chasing activity sponsored by an institution. It culminated in a brilliant success in 1973 with the [[Union City, Oklahoma]] tornado providing a foundation for tornado and [[supercell]] morphology that proved the efficacy of storm chasing field research.<ref name="field programs history">{{cite journal |last=Bluestein |first=Howard |author-link=Howard B. Bluestein |title=A History of Severe-Storm-Intercept Field Programs |journal=Weather Forecast. |volume=14 |issue=4 |pages=558–77 |date=August 1999 |doi=10.1175/1520-0434(1999)014<0558:AHOSSI>2.0.CO;2 |bibcode=1999WtFor..14..558B|doi-access=free }}</ref> The project produced the first legion of veteran storm chasers, with Hoadley's ''Storm Track'' magazine bringing the community together in 1977.

Storm chasing then reached popular culture in three major spurts: in 1978 with the broadcast of an episode of the television program ''[[In Search of... (TV series)|In Search of...]]''; in 1985 with a documentary on the [[Public Broadcasting Service|PBS]] series ''[[Nova (American TV series)|Nova]]''; and in May 1996 with the theatrical release of ''[[Twister (1996 film)|Twister]]'', a Hollywood blockbuster which provided an action-packed but heavily fictionalized glimpse of the hobby. Further early exposure to storm chasing resulted from notable magazine articles, beginning in the late 1970s in ''[[Weatherwise]]'' magazine.

Various television programs and increased coverage of severe weather by the news media, especially since the initial video revolution in which VHS ownership became widespread by the early 1990s, substantially elevated awareness of and interest in storms and storm chasing. The Internet in particular has contributed to a significant increase in the number of storm chasers since the mid-to-late 1990s. A sharp increase in the general public impulsively wandering about their local area in search of tornadoes similarly is largely attributable to these factors. The 2007–2011 Discovery Channel reality series ''[[Storm Chasers (TV series)|Storm Chasers]]'' produced another surge in activity. Over the years the nature of chasing and the characteristics of chasers shifted.

From their advent in the 1970s until the mid-1990s, scientific [[Field experiment|field projects]] were occasionally conducted in the Great Plains during the spring.<ref name="field programs history"/> The first of the seminal [[VORTEX projects]] occurred in 1994–1995<ref name="VORTEX">{{cite journal |last = Rasmussen |first = Erik N. |author-link = Erik N. Rasmussen |author2=J. M. Straka |author3=R. Davies-Jones |author4=C. A. Doswell |author5=F. H. Carr |author6=M. D. Eilts |author7=D. R. MacGorman  |title = Verification of the Origins of Rotation in Tornadoes Experiment: VORTEX |journal = Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc. |volume = 75 |issue = 6 |pages = 995–1006 |year = 1994 |doi = 10.1175/1520-0477(1994)075<0995:VOTOOR>2.0.CO;2 |bibcode = 1994BAMS...75..995R |doi-access = free }}</ref> and was soon followed by various field experiments each spring, with another large project, VORTEX2,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://vortex2.org/|title=Vortex2 Welcome You! ..::..|website=vortex2.org|access-date=3 August 2019|archive-date=31 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190731154925/http://www.vortex2.org/|url-status=live}}</ref> in 2009–2010.<ref name="VORTEX2">{{cite journal |last = Wurman |first = Joshua |author-link = Joshua Wurman |author2=D. Dowell |author3=Y. Richardson |author4=P. Markowski |author5=E. Rasmussen |author6=D. Burgess |author7=L. Wicker |author8=H. B. Bluestein  |title = The Second Verification of the Origins of Rotation in Tornadoes Experiment: VORTEX2 |journal = Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc. |volume = 93 |issue = 8 |pages = 1147–70 |year = 2012 |doi = 10.1175/BAMS-D-11-00010.1 |bibcode = 2012BAMS...93.1147W |doi-access = free }}</ref> Since the mid-1990s, most storm chasing science, with the notable exception of large field projects, consists of mobile [[Weather radar|Doppler weather radar]] intercepts.