Kiwi loves the thrill of the chase
From Karaka to Kansas – Kim Watson fell in love with chasing tornadoes, writes Alan Granville.
How do you like to spend your holidays? Is it lounging by the beach with a good book in your hands, or is it sightseeing and exploring the likes of cities like Barcelona and Buenos Aires? Or is it getting up every morning, checking the weather and travelling hundreds of kilometres to chase storms and tornadoes across the United States? If it’s the latter, then you have a soulmate in Kim Watson.
The 39-year-old from Karaka admits she has been enchanted with wild weather for a long time.
‘‘My fascination with tornadoes started when I was very young after my mother told me where to shelter in the house if we ever did get one. From then on I have always had dreams about them and wanted to see them up close.’’
The veterinary nurse realised those dreams last year for the first time, when she completed a seven-day tour with Tornadic Expeditions. This year she extended it to a 10-day trip.
‘‘We covered nine states in 10 days. Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas, South Dakota, Wyoming, and Montana. We travelled 7800 kilometres in that time.’’
And the distance travelled was certainly worth it, she says.
‘‘We saw 10 tornadoes in three days. A wedge tornado in Wyoming, eight tornadoes in Colorado, and one in Oklahoma. To go from having seen no tornadoes to 10 in three days is beyond my wildest dreams!’’
A typical day saw tour leaders Erik Burns and Aaron Rigsby checking out the forecasts and estimating where the best storms would be, although sometimes it came down to ‘‘gut instinct’’.
‘‘We would start that day by meeting about 10am and heading off for something to eat. We would then find places to go around the area to visit, or drive to where our storms look to initiate that afternoon.
‘‘Once storms start to initiate we get in position to watch them develop. Then it’s a matter of staying in front of the storm as it matures and watch what mother nature can produce!’’
But despite the fury that nature can unleash, at no point did Watson feel unsafe. ‘‘We were about a quarter of a mile from a rope tornado but never once was I scared, never felt nervous at all. Erik and Aaron kept us safe.’’
The Tornadic Expeditions groups tend to be small, and Watson was joined by three others on the tour – Emma and Cath from Australia, and Guido from Germany.
They had all been in communication before the trip and had already formed a tight bond.
‘‘It was like meeting up with family when we all got together. I consider them all my chasing family and love them to bits! In fact, we all booked the same tour next year together.’’ A 17-day trip is now planned.
‘‘Storm chasing is very addictive,’’ she says. ‘‘I think watching the storms is incredible ... to be that close to something so powerful is mindblowing.’’
See tornadicexpeditions.com for more.