Your Bio

ATTENTION SHM ANNUAL MEETING GOERS: My presentation can be found by clicking on the following link:

http://home.comcast.net/~persoffj/RapidFire.ppt

Enjoy! Thank you!!!
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I have been chasing severe weather since 1990 when I lived in Denver, Colorado. My wife and I moved to Jacksonville, Florida in 1997 so that I could work for Mayo Clinic and have lived there since. I chase annually the last two weeks of May, flying out to catch severe weather on the Great Plains. I go wherever the storms will form--my travels frequently exceed 4000 miles during those two weeks. I marvel at the amazing landscapes and differences in geography that span Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, New Mexico, and Texas. My favorite areas to chase are the Texas Panhandle,Eastern Nebraska, and Kansas which both provide highly differing but spectacular views. I am an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Mayo Clinic in the subspecialty of Hospital Medicine (I only take care of inpatients). The top four questions I get are:

a) How close do you get to the storms? I get as close as I feel safely that I can. Having chased for over a decade, I have developed a good feel for the breadth and scope of severe weather. Education and trial-by-fire have taught me what's safe and what's not. Storm chasing is NOT for those without weather knowledge. A good starting place is: http://stormtrack.org/ for those interested.

b) Does your wife come with you? She used to, but stopped when she realized that 95% of chasing is driving; the other 5% are high-stress. She enjoys watching my tapes and loves my photos. She is the most amazingly supportive person I have ever met. And I love her tremendously. Her encouragement means more than she could ever know.

c) What's the most powerful tornado you've ever seen? I witnessed an F2 nearly mile-wide tornado west of Concordia, Kansas, on May 30, 2004. That photo is in this collection.

d) Do you go to the MidWest and chase storms by yourself or with others? The storm chasing community is fairly tight-knit and we all are familiar with one another. When I go chasing I am often "by myself" in my vehicle. However, it is exceptionally common for me to run into other chasers on the same storms I am chasing, and frequently I also run into others at motels or restaurants. Sometimes we will all team up; other times we won't. There is a good rapport between most chasers (with a few exceptions), so to me, I am never really alone.

Please email me with any questions at all. Please help support my photography by purchasing any photos you find call to you. I would also love to hear your thoughts about the scenes you see. Emotional reactions/thoughts are always welcome because I enjoy sharing these moments with others.

Thanks!

Jason

Jason@Stormdoctor.Com

Featured Galleries

Tornadoes : Tornadoes--some powerful, some photogenic--are the ultimate result of potent supercells.  Few people realize that the tornado is a column of air which starts rotating miles above the ground in the parent storm.  When it touches down to the ground, the column of air may (or may not) have a condensation funnel visible from the cloud to the ground.  Often, a funnel is seen with a debris cloud at ground level and "clear air" between the two.  This is still a tornado and is just as potentially deadly as tornadoes with condensation funnels that reach the ground.  Humidity, height of the cloud base, etc, all have effects on how visible the condensation funnel becomes.  But people in their paths should take cover no matter how "benign" the appearance is.  Remember that tornadoes are columns of AIR and not cloud.  
***NOTE***
All photos purchased will be the highest resolution and highest quality (by necessity the previews you are viewing are only medium quality in order to decrease bandwidth).  Your satisfaction with the final print is guaranteed.  If you in anyway dissatisfied, simply email me at Jason@Stormdoctor.Com and I will purchase back the print from you (less developing and shipping costs).  :)  All purchased photos may be used for personal display but may by no means used commercially by any entity without explicit approval by me.  Thank you for helping me fund the trips that allow me to bring these photos back to you!

Tornadoes

Tornadoes--some powerful, some photogenic--are the ultimate result of ...

Updated: Jun 02, 2007 11:45pm PST

Galleries

Halloween Party 2007 :

Halloween Party 2007

Updated: Nov 28, 2007 2:36pm PST

Halloween Party 2006 :

Halloween Party 2006

Updated: Nov 02, 2007 2:21pm PST

2007 Chase Season! : I'm currently out on my storm chasing vaction (5/27-6/9).  The chase continues...Today is day #7 and it's been an amazing trip.  I've seen one tornado but myriad exquisite stormscapes.  Some of these are among the most beautiful I've ever filmed.  Current setups look like this upcoming week will be a huge week for tornadoes.  Amazing...

2007 Chase Season!

I'm currently out on my storm chasing vaction (5/27-6/9). The chase c ...

Updated: Jun 02, 2007 11:44pm PST

2006 Chase Season! : This year was unparalleled in so many ways: its almost complete lack of severe weather; the sheer number of miles I drove (4550); the myriad states I drove through (10); and the absence of a single Tornado Warning on any cell I chased this year.  The lattermost is a major "first" for me, and underscores how quiet the season actually was.  Nevertheless, it was a gratifying chase season in many different ways: I visited areas I'd never been (such as Mt. Rushmore) and I got to do more sightseeing than I normally get to.  I got better lightning shots than I've had before, and overall I enjoyed myself in spite of the quiet season.

2006 Chase Season!

This year was unparalleled in so many ways: its almost complete lack o ...

Updated: Jul 09, 2006 9:48am PST

2005 Chase Season! : One of the quietest severe storm seasons ever recorded, 2005 will forever be remembered by me as the year of the Green Sky and Rainbow.  Storm chasing in a quiet season allows me time to work on capturing the rich colors and textures of the weather and stretching vistas over which it forms.  I hope the pictures from this year show that storms are exquisite even when tornadoes aren't present.

2005 Chase Season!

One of the quietest severe storm seasons ever recorded, 2005 will fore ...

Updated: Jun 09, 2005 3:18pm PST

Tornadoes : Tornadoes--some powerful, some photogenic--are the ultimate result of potent supercells.  Few people realize that the tornado is a column of air which starts rotating miles above the ground in the parent storm.  When it touches down to the ground, the column of air may (or may not) have a condensation funnel visible from the cloud to the ground.  Often, a funnel is seen with a debris cloud at ground level and "clear air" between the two.  This is still a tornado and is just as potentially deadly as tornadoes with condensation funnels that reach the ground.  Humidity, height of the cloud base, etc, all have effects on how visible the condensation funnel becomes.  But people in their paths should take cover no matter how "benign" the appearance is.  Remember that tornadoes are columns of AIR and not cloud.  
***NOTE***
All photos purchased will be the highest resolution and highest quality (by necessity the previews you are viewing are only medium quality in order to decrease bandwidth).  Your satisfaction with the final print is guaranteed.  If you in anyway dissatisfied, simply email me at Jason@Stormdoctor.Com and I will purchase back the print from you (less developing and shipping costs).  :)  All purchased photos may be used for personal display but may by no means used commercially by any entity without explicit approval by me.  Thank you for helping me fund the trips that allow me to bring these photos back to you!

Tornadoes

Tornadoes--some powerful, some photogenic--are the ultimate result of ...

Updated: Jun 02, 2007 11:45pm PST

Lightning Photos : Lightning illuminates the skies over these severe thunderstorms.

***NOTE***
All photos purchased will be the highest resolution and highest quality (by necessity the previews you are viewing are only medium quality in order to decrease bandwidth).  Your satisfaction with the final print is guaranteed.  If you in anyway dissatisfied, simply email me at Jason@Stormdoctor.Com and I will purchase back the print from you (less developing and shipping costs).  :)  All purchased photos may be used for personal display but may by no means used commercially by any entity without explicit approval by me.  Thank you for helping me fund the trips that allow me to bring these photos back to you!

Lightning Photos

Lightning illuminates the skies over these severe thunderstorms. ** ...

Updated: Jun 02, 2007 11:45pm PST

Cloudscapes and Sunsets : Stunning clouds shapes and colors are captured in this gallery.  I have tweaked the contrast where necessary, but the colors are exactly as I saw them on the days they were taken.

***NOTE***
All photos purchased will be the highest resolution and highest quality (by necessity the previews you are viewing are only medium quality in order to decrease bandwidth).  Your satisfaction with the final print is guaranteed.  If you in anyway dissatisfied, simply email me at Jason@Stormdoctor.Com and I will purchase back the print from you (less developing and shipping costs).  :)  All purchased photos may be used for personal display but may by no means used commercially by any entity without explicit approval by me.  Thank you for helping me fund the trips that allow me to bring these photos back to you!

Cloudscapes and Sunsets

Stunning clouds shapes and colors are captured in this gallery. I hav ...

Updated: Jun 02, 2007 11:45pm PST

Rainbows : A rainbow is the reflected prism of sunlight in rainfall.  The rainbow is--believe it or not--actually a full circle, but you can only see the upper half from the ground.  If you could connect the rainbow's ends to complete the circle, the dead center of the circle is known as the "antisolar spot": the center of the Earth's shadow!  The antisolar spot can be "seen" during lunar eclipses.  That's one of my favorite factoids about rainbows.
***NOTE***
All photos purchased will be the highest resolution and highest quality (by necessity the previews you are viewing are only medium quality in order to decrease bandwidth).  Your satisfaction with the final print is guaranteed.  If you in anyway dissatisfied, simply email me at Jason@Stormdoctor.Com and I will purchase back the print from you (less developing and shipping costs).  :)  All purchased photos may be used for personal display but may by no means used commercially by any entity without explicit approval by me.  Thank you for helping me fund the trips that allow me to bring these photos back to you!

Rainbows

A rainbow is the reflected prism of sunlight in rainfall. The rainbow ...

Updated: Jun 02, 2007 3:23pm PST

Miscellany : This is for "everything else": beautiful photos, hail, pictures of me, strange stuff, etc.

Miscellany

This is for "everything else": beautiful photos, hail, pictures of me, ...

Updated: Jun 02, 2007 3:24pm PST

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