As an amateur storm chaser for the past 10 years, I understand the lure of the tornado, how the mystery surrounding its formation and the beautiful violence it inscribes on the landscape can elicit passion, even obsession, among those who study it.

Before moving to Virginia, I lived in Kansas for five years and, with my husband, Dane, we drove our 1986 Honda Prelude across the prairie in hot pursuit of storms each spring. We witnessed hail and some impressive cumulus towers, but no tornadoes. In fact, it’s only when I moved to Virginia that I learned the following about tornadic storms and the people who chase them.

There are chasers right here in Virginia.

I didn’t know just how varied and diverse storm chasers were until I met Dave Carroll, an instructor with the Virginia Tech Geography Department, whose tousled silver hair, slightly nasal drawl, and penchant for khaki shorts and windbreakers make him seem more like a track coach than connoisseur of violent winds.

Over the past 12 days, I have spent hundreds of hours and more than 6,000 miles chasing storms with him and a group of students across the Great Plains. “This is just eye candy for me,” he says in a hotel room in Kansas, “but it’s all speculation at this point.” He’s reclining on the bed, laptop in hand, looking at the computer models that predict severe weather by analyzing multiple variables such as wind shear, air moisture, temperature, and high or low pressure systems. “We’ll have to wait for this system to verify over the next few days.” Translation: if we’re lucky, we’ll see something spectacular.

We’re out on the Great Plains to chase storms, more specifically, supercell thunderstorms, the kind that usually produce those fearful, rotating winds called a tornado. Dave takes a group of 10 aspiring meteorology students out to the middle of the continent each year as part of a field course that gives them practical experience forecasting and witnessing nature’s most dangerous storms.

When I first joined his group two years ago, I was skeptical of the students’ abilities to track down these enormous cloud structures, the kind that most of them had never experienced before. I was wrong. During our 16-day chase in 2008, those 17-22 year olds—guided by Dave and Kevin Myatt, of The Roanoke Times—led us to intercept nine tornadoes.

This year, I’m driving one of the two Dodge Caravans outfitted as chase vehicles, replete with GPS, NOAA Weather Radio, CBs, a laptop computer, mobile Internet, Doppler radar, and road map software. The antennae attached to the back of the vehicle make us look like metallic bugs, but the official Sky Warn Spotter magnets tell anyone who sees us that we take seriously our mission to understand storms, and by so doing, help improve the warning systems that alert us all to impending danger.

Tornadoes are not the main risk in chasing.

My neighbor, Cathy, recently pointed out to me that people who encounter storms, such as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, get sucked up by tornadoes. “Aren’t you worried that’ll happen to you, Jen?” Standing on the grass between our two properties, it was clear she felt genuine concern for my safety. “I mean, isn’t chasing tornadoes dangerous?”

Absolutely. However, it’s a misconception that tornadoes are common and that people always get caught up in them. Part of the reason these ideas are so prevalent is the increasing coverage of tornado devastation by media, such as The Weather Channel, and movies like the 1996 cult classic, “Twister.” In fact, the threat that poses the most danger to storm chasers is the same as it would be for anyone else who might drive 6,500 miles in two weeks (the average storm chase trip each year): car accidents.

According to Dr. Charles Doswell, storm chaser and researcher for The National Severe Storms Laboratory, being on highways is the number one threat for chasers. “ We do several things that put us at risk for accidents: we often drive with less than 100% of our attention on the very important task of driving, we are prone to exceed the posted speed limits, we hurtle down rain- and possibly hail-covered highways, and we are prone to sudden stops and starts without much warning.”

Of course, many storm chasers make safety a priority. However, there are no rules that all chasers must follow; instead, it’s left to individuals to make wise decisions about how they pursue the storms. And as this YouTube video attests, not all chasers are safe.

The second most common threat is lightning and the third, hail, which can bust windshields and send glass like shrapnel through a car. Tornadoes are dangerous, but they’re low on the list of concerns, especially when accompanied by a seasoned chaser. “Seeing a tornado is not worth dying for,” Carroll says, “but they’re worth taking calculated risks for.”

There are different kinds of chasers in the chaser subculture.

Together, several groups of people make up what many call “the chaser circus” because of the frenzied congregations of vehicles and pedestrians surrounding a storm. “It’s just a matter of time before a group of people are killed,” Carroll tells me. “Dozens of vehicles getting trapped on a congested road just as a tornado bears down on them—that kind of tragedy will impact us all.” And there are several types of people involved in the chaos.

Researchers / Scientists: Those who represent government agencies, like NOAA, who collect data to further understand tornadogenesis or from educational institutions, like Virginia Tech, who teach students how to forecast and safely pursue storms.

Storm spotters: These individuals keep an eye out for dangerous weather conditions that they then report back to the region’s weather station.  Often local law enforcement officers and emergency personnel perform this function for their respective communities, though citizens can take classes from Sky Warn and become official spotters, too.

Locals: Curious people who live in the area impacted by the storm. Sometimes these people can contribute to overcrowding on roads in the path of a storm without understanding what the storm is doing or where it’s headed.

Thrill Seekers or “Yahoos:” What many in the meteorological community call those who chase for no other reason than to experience the most dangerous parts of the storm for bragging rights.  Often, these people build exotic-looking devices, such as windshield cages, to protect their vehicle form the large hail and debris they’ll encounter when they core punch—or drive through the hail core, which can be up to four inches in diameter. They often videotape these encounters and post them online for a fee, and they’ve become an increasing nuisance on the highways during tornado season.

Tour groups: People who pay money to ride in a van with a group of individuals who all hope to see a tornado. Dubbed a “chasecation,” or chase vacation, this experience can cost anywhere from $3,000-$4,000 per person, depending on the length of the trip and the notoriety of the group leader (e.g., famed weather photographer Warren Faidley charges a hefty $6,900 to ride solo with him for just four days!).

Tornadoes can hit Virginia—and do each year.

About 1,200 tornadoes are reported across the United States each year and, of course, some bear down on communities in our home state. According to the Virginia Department of Emergency Management, 376 tornadoes have been documented over the past five decades with an average of seven each year, though this average is probably very low considering that tornadoes are often underreported (in 2004 alone there were 86 tornadoes reported in Virginia!). Still, we’re fortunate since tornado fatalities are low; only 65 people have died from tornadoes in Virginia since these records were first kept in 1916.

So what can you do to protect yourself and your family from severe weather threats?

Purchase a NOAA weather radio at any electronics store and keep it on during tornado season, which in Virginia is April through October, July being the peak month. Tune it to one of the stations listed here. For example, if you live in the Roanoke, Virginia, area, you can tune your radio to 162.475 to hear current updates and warnings.

Warn your friends and family to keep their eye on the sky for storms, especially those that have thunder and lightning. Lightning is the number threat, killing an average of 58 people each year, and it can strike as far as 10 miles from the area where it’s raining. A good rule of thumb is that if you can hear thunder, you’re in danger: When thunder roars, go indoors!

If there is a tornado warning, a tornado is likely or has been spotted on the ground. Go to a basement or the innermost room of a house and stay there. Don’t waste time opening windows and don’t get in a car to try to outrun the tornado.

For more information about tornadoes and tornado safety, please visit the Storm Prediction Center website.

Jennifer Henderson is an instructor at Virginia Tech and amateur storm chaser. She’s working on two books: Machine in the Sky: One Woman’s Search for the Tornado, and The Girls Guide to Storm Chasing.