Jimmy "Thunderbolt" Deguara - Australian Tour Director

Jimmy is without doubt Australia's and one of the world's most experienced and respected storm chasers. His passion for severe weather is infectious and Jimmy has appeared on numerous prime time television programs including 60 Minutes, A Current Affair, Today Tonight and Today.

A university graduate with a double major in mathematics and physics, his interest in weather goes back for as long as he remembers. It was the influence of floods and run-off associated with heavy rain which first intrigued him, and the challenge in forecasting led to his interest in thunderstorms, particularly heavy rain and hail. During 1989, a talk by Chuck Doswell, a highly respected US meteorologist and storm chaser, on tornadoes inspired Jimmy to pursue his own dream of chasing tornadoes.

Jimmy is one of the few, if not the only storm chaser to have tornado intercepts in both the USA and Australia. On October 27, 2007 Jimmy intercepted a long-lived and violent tornado by Australian standards near Dunoon, NSW. Despite the hundreds of USA tornado intercepts on his record, Jimmy is most proud of his "down under twister", and we agree that he has bragging rights for it as well.

Jimmy is one of the few storm chasers on the planet to enjoy the spring storm season of Australia and then the spring storm season of the United States every year. Jimmy operated Thunderbolt Tours for several years and provided his tour guest with storm chasing experiences in Tornado Alley and throughout Australia. Jimmy and Brian joined forces in 2008 and Jimmy oversees our Australian tour guest reservations, as well as leads our operations when chasing down under. He also plays varying roles in our Tornado Alley storm tours when chasing in the USA and will either lead, or co-lead some tours.