Your 2012 Tour Staff
     Our team is comprised of some of the most experienced storm chasers from around the world. We understand meteorology and concentrate on good forecasting techniques to intercept severe weather and ensure a successful storm chase on every tour.

Todd Thorn - Tour Leader/Severe Storm Expert - Bozeman, Montana - I will be on all tours.

I have been fascinated by severe storms and tornadoes since I was just six years old, and as a result, I began studying severe weather at a very early age. Over the years, I read every textbook on the subject and spent many days watching severe storms form over my hometown. My nights were spent watching vivid lightning from my bedroom window as the sound of thunder shook the house. To be a storm chaser, you must be able to read the sky and see visual clues for severe weather, such as the meaning of distant towering cumulus clouds. All the schooling and onboard information is good, but it takes years to learn how to read the sky and tell where the next storm will form. I have been chasing severe weather since 1991 and have a background in meteorology. In 2012, we will be operating our 15th year of Storm Chasing Adventure Tours. We have been featured in numerous television documentaries, news programs, and in more than 200 newspaper and magazine articles published around the world. Since I founded Storm Chasing Adventure Tours in 1997, our emphasis has been on good forecasting techniques to intercept severe weather for a successful storm chase on every tour. I look forward to seeing you in Tornado Alley during 2012.


Hi, I am from Perth Western Australia and 2012 will be my 7th year chasing storms with Storm Chasing Adventure Tours. I have had a keen interest in severe weather from a young age and I have been fortunate to see many amazing tornadoes and intense lightning displays . Seeing a tornado for the first time was truly an amazing experience, it certainly got the heart pumping. Every day is like an adventure, who knows where you will end up and what you might see! Regardless of if you see a tornado or not, it's an experience of a lifetime and one not to be missed. I look forward to traveling with you all in 2012.

Chris Brown - Guide/Driver for TBA

The 2012 chase will be my fourth season storm chasing with Todd. Despite living in England, my long annual trip over to meet up with Storm Chasing Adventure Tours is my most anticipated of the year. Storm chasing is a hobby rather than a career for me as I am the MD of a travel company where we try and send people where the good weather is! I have always had a fascination with severe weather and as a youngster I dreamed of seeing a tornado. Sadly in the UK, it only gets as bad as severe thunder and lightning, and when this happens I can normally be found outside (My family thinks I am mad). I am also a keen photographer and enjoy the photo opportunities that arise whilst chasing storms. I look forward to seeing you out on the Plains in 2012.

Steve Carey - Guide/Driver for TBA

This will be my eighth year storm chasing with Storm Chasing Adventure Tours and my sixth as a member of the Storm Chasing Adventure Tours team. On previous trips I’ve seen intense lightning displays, awesome supercell thunderstorms, large hail, funnel clouds, and six tornadoes. I am a professor at the University of Mobile (Alabama) where I teach courses in biology and geology. I also have an interest in the history of the Great Plains and am familiar with many of the people and places of the Old West. As we travel throughout Tornado Alley, I’ll point out sites of natural and historic interest. As a resident of the Gulf Coast, I’ve experienced several hurricanes including Hurricane Ivan whose eye passed over my house. I’ve always been fascinated with severe weather and can’t wait for the chase season to begin. I look forward to meeting you and sharing the experience of a lifetime.

Andrea Dyer - Guide/Driver for TBA

Hello, my name is Andi and I have been fascinated by storms since I was 5 years old when my mother put a mattress in the hallway as the sirens were blaring. As a teenager I lived in Oklahoma and would crawl on the roof of the house to take pictures as the storms rolled in. 2012 will be my fourth year with Todd and hope to catch another tornado on film. I have learned a lot from Todd and can't wait to learn more and meet fellow tornado enthusiasts.

Diana Fierro - Guide/Driver for TBA

Hello fellow chasers! This will be my 5th year storm chasing with Todd. I am originally from California and have recently relocated to Australia. By profession I am a registered nurse and I work in the intensive care unit. I’ve had such a fascination with severe weather from a very young age. I would watch tornado videos, study tornadoes and even dream about tornadoes on a regular basis. The first time I went chasing with Todd I told him that I wanted to see a tornado on my birthday. On May 9th, 2006 Todd made my dream come true, and I have been hooked ever since. I look forward to meeting you all in Tornado alley!

Kevin Harned - Guide/Driver/Severe Storm Expert for TBA

Like Todd, I've been fascinated with the weather since I was a kid. Following my dream since I was in the seventh grade, I have always wanted to learn more how it works. I decided then that I wanted to be a meteorologist. A graduate of Purdue University, I have my degree in Synoptic Meteorology and work for the NBC affiliate WAVE 3 in Louisville, Kentucky. I had the pleasure of documenting a ten-day tour with Todd, including everyone on board, during the 2002 season. Working in television has given me the opportunity to chase tornadoes and hurricanes and to cover floods and winter storms. It's one thing to look at a radar and warn people of what you think is coming their way... but totally different to actually see it with your own eyes. Trying to predict what nature will do and when is very humbling, but I look forward to the challenge during the 2012 season.

Ryan Hoke - Guide/Driver/Web Administrator for TBA

This is my 5th year with Todd. I'll be the first to admit that I'm obsessed with weather. Everyday presents an opportunity to experience spectacular shows put on by our atmosphere, even if it's just a passing cloud. This interest inspired me to create a weather website for the Louisville, Kentucky area during my high school years. My site, ryanweather.org, featured weekly forecast videos, severe weather coverage, and a daily weather blog, but now features my resume and video archive. The site was featured on Louisville's WAVE 3 TV and received visits from all over the world. As a meteorology student at Mississippi State University, I'm using my previously-learned weather skills and a wealth of new ones to help me get a degree in meteorology. My headstart in meteorology helped me get my first TV job as Saturday morning on-air weather forecaster at WBBJ-TV ABC 7 in Jackson, Tennessee in the fall of 2010. While we're storm chasing, I'm able to use state-of-the-art weather radar software for radar analysis, point out dangerous tornado hook echoes, damaging hail indicators, and provide vital storm information to tour guests. With a live mobile weather data connection and GPS equipment, I'll be able to tell you our exact location and the locations of storms around us, along with their characteristics. We're going to have a blast this 2012 season!

Robert Koch - Guide/Driver for TBA

Hello, my name is Robert Koch and I make my living selling merchandise on the auction website eBay. This will be my 7th year chasing with Todd and I look forward to another exhilarating chase season. I have always been intrigued with severe weather since I was a wee lad and the last 6 seasons have been most stimulating as I met many great storm chasing enthusiasts and weather professionals. Chasing with Todd across the great American Plains is always rewarding whether we see tornadoes, severe storms, or spectacular lightning displays. Best Regards, Robert.

Shane Linke - Guide/Driver for TBA

I truly can’t describe how excited and honored I am to be joining the Storm Chasing Adventure Tours team as a guide/driver in 2012! I’m an adrenaline addict and Colorado native currently living and working as a software developer near Fort Collins. I have had a fascination with weather and the atmosphere since witnessing my first tornado when I was just a kid. My intrigue continued into college where I began pursuing a degree in atmospheric science at Colorado State University. It was at the same that I became interested in information technology and software development, which eventually led to changing majors and the career I’m in today. While I greatly enjoy working in the tech industry, severe weather has always been my one real passion that has never faded. It wasn’t until May 2009 that I took a greater interest in storm chasing after our home was damaged by the EF3 wedge tornado that struck Windsor, Colorado.  It served as a powerful reminder just how helpless we can be in the path of nature’s fury. Aside from severe weather, I also enjoy photography, mountain climbing/hiking, traveling, kayaking, golf and just about anything else outdoors. I can’t wait to share the experience of chasing the vast Great Plains for the most beautiful and violent storms in 2012!

Jason Moreland - Guide/Driver for TBA

I am a senior undergraduate of Meteorology at the University of South Alabama. I have been obsessed with severe weather since I was little. In April 2010, I founded 28storms.com, a site dedicated to hurricane and severe weather analysis. While living in the South I chased many of the historic southern severe weather outbreaks, including Super Tuesday, Yazoo City, MS in 2010, April 15th, and April 27th, 2011. Most recently, I intercepted Hurricane Irene in eastern North Carolina. Despite successful intercepts, I'm excited to join Todd's team for more appealing chasing in the open Plains! Chasing is in my blood and I look forward to venturing into future storms with people that are equally fascinated.

Chad Van Soest - Guide/Driver for TBA

Hey guys! I am excited to be a driver for Todd this year, heading out to America's Great Plains and witnessing the most awe-inspiring forces of nature in the world. This will be my third storm chasing trip and first as a driver. Until recently, I lived in San Diego where "severe weather" is nothing more than heavy rain. Although I loved it there, I am happy to be in Denver, CO now, working as a high school counselor and enjoying the unpredictable weather that comes with the territory. I have been obsessed with thunderstorms ever since I can remember and have marveled at the pure brutality yet beauty of that phenomenon they call a tornado. I look forward to chasing with you all and hope for the "worst" weather possible!