What kind of vehicles do you use?
We have a variety of vehicles ranging from large passenger vans to SUVs.  We try to use the passenger vans as much as possible, however there are times when SUVs may be used at our discretion.  We put a maximum of 6 passengers in our vans, and up to 3 passengers in our SUVs.  If a tour has three or less customers, we'll conduct the tour in an SUV due to the heavy operating costs associated with the passenger vans.  Some tours may use both vans, and an SUV, depending on the amount of customers on that tour.
 
What does the tour fee cover?
The tour fee covers our services, including transportation and lodging..  It does not cover your flights, food and/or incidentals.  You should plan to have about $30 USD per day to cover your meals and any incidentals.  Transportation between the hotel and airport is normally provided by the hotel.
 
Is the name of the company "StormTours.com"?

Yes!  We are not "Storm Tours", we are "StormTours.com".

Why? We thought about a fancy name for a very long time before coming to the conclusion that "StormTours.com" was the perfect name for the tour company.  It serves two purposes - 1) It clearly identifies what we do, and 2) it solves the problem of people asking us - "That sounds amazing, what's your website?"

The name also matches are branding style along with the Original Storm Chase Website - StormChase.com
 
What does a typical day’s chase involve?
First of all, there is no such thing as “typical” when we’re talking about storm chasing.   Each day brings its own unique challenges and this is further the reason why you want a well experienced team leading your tour.   That being said, we’ll usually start off with a morning forecast to identify a broad area where storms are most likely to develop, then we’ll load up our group and drive most of the day while we make our way across Tornado Alley to our targeted location.

The atmosphere works like a fluid and is in a constant state of motion.  Because of this our targeted area will become more defined throughout the day and we’ll use a combination of technology and “gut feeling” to narrow down this area, possibly having to shift our target location – in other words, storm chasing requires a fair amount of driving.

When we do get a developed storm, we’ll plan the final stages of the interception – and figure out the safest way to “attack” it for the best viewing angle of any possible developing tornado.   During this stage of the chase we will still spend a lot of time driving, but the distances travelled between stops will become considerably shorter (sometimes only a few miles at a time).  During each stop, our team will evaluate the safety factors and if it’s deemed safe we’ll all be able to stand alongside of nature’s most intense severe storms and capture all the action with our cameras
 
I’m trying to arrange my flight, can you make any recommendations?
The only recommendation that we can make is to try and arrive at the base city no later than 5:00 p.m. local time (Central Time Zone).   We normally conduct a “pre-tour orientation meeting” around 7:00 p.m. that evening, and while it’s not required that you attend we highly recommend that you are there to get the most information about what you can expect during your tour.

We also strongly recommend that you arrange for your departure flight to take place in the afternoon.   Check out time at the hotel is normally set for 11:00 a.m.   If we have a strong last day of storm chasing, it could be very late, or in some rarer cases “early morning” before arriving back at the hotel.  Thus, you’ll probably want some time to rest up before flying.
 
I live close to the base city, can I drive to the tour and will there be a place that I can safely leave my vehicle for a week?
The hotels that we stay at will permit you to leave your vehicle in the hotel parking lot.  Since our hotels are located close to an airport, you can also choose to park your vehicle in the extended airport parking and use a shuttle from the parking lot to the airport.   We recommend searching Google for your best option.   Please note that leaving your vehicle unattended is solely at your discretion and neither StormTours.com, or our hotel partners will be responsible for any theft or damage to your vehicle if you choose to leave it at the hotel.
 
I want to go on a tour, but I’m planning on waiting until the week can be somewhat better forecasted. Is this possible?
That is a risky decision that you’ll have to make.  If you decide to wait until the previous week before a tour, then we can say you’ll have almost no chance at all of being on a tour because we’ll already be completely booked.   Our tours are usually full well in advance of the start of the season.   When we do have an occasional opening due to a possible cancellation, then we have a waiting list and treat it as a first come, first serve.  There are people on this list who have been waiting for several years without the possibility of a last minute deal.   So, we don’t recommend this as an option to you.
 
What month is better, May or June?
Tornado potential in the United States usually starts in the early spring such as mid-March and peaks at the end of May.   June is more active in the northern latitudes in states such as Nebraska and the Dakotas, as well as into the Canadian Prairies.   

Each week during our tour schedule has been designed to coincide with the highest possibilities of tornado potential, and so are the base cities that we use.   Each tour has the same potential for tornadic supercells however the main difference is the general location of the storms from tour to tour.

During May most storms will occur in the Texas Panhandle and into Oklahoma and southern Kansas and these storms are typically fast moving due to the larger trough system that we see during this time of year.   

June on the other hand will generally produce slower moving storms in areas such as northern Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado and points north.   Our favorite is the June storms of the northern high prairies due to their slower moving nature that makes them easier to view, less population in these northern prairies make them more enjoyable to watch and due to the elevation of the northern latitudes there is a lot more to view.
 
What should I bring?

We recommend that you pack for a week and bring one soft-style luggage and a smaller “carry on” sized bag for things such as cell phones, cameras and batteries.   Tripods are welcome but be aware that we do have “non-tripod allowed times” during the chase due to the time that it can take to setup and tear them down – which could put our group at a safety risk.  Our entire group must be able to quickly load back into our vehicles in a split second and lingering times can either put us at risk, or just cause our entire group to miss a tornado by mere seconds.

Thus, we only allow the usage of tripods when we either expect to be stopped at a single location for more than 5 minutes, or while still photographing lightning.   And you must be able to get all your gear back into the vehicles quickly.   It’s usually best to bring a monopod instead of a tripod as this will allow you to get a “quick stick” in the ground for additional stability while shooting, yet remain extremely mobile and able to load up quickly.

Tour Director Brian Barnes has compiled a list of things to bring that will help you in planning your trip - Top 10 Must Bring Items
 
I require prescription medications, can I still come?
Absolutely!  We do not allow any kind of illegal drugs on our tours.  If you’re caught with such drugs, we will put you off the tour immediately – so don’t bring them!  

If you require prescription drugs, please be sure to bring your prescriptions with you.   Some of the areas that we chase in make us easily subjected to vehicle checks by law enforcement, such as areas along the international border with Mexico.   If law enforcement finds prescription medications, they will want to see your written prescription – so be sure you have it.
 
What is your alcohol policy?

We do not allow any alcoholic beverages to be open in the vehicles.  This is state and federal law.

What you do in your hotel room is of course your business and we want you to enjoy your vacation, so if you purchase alcohol during one of our stops, make sure its not opened until you get to your hotel room.    We do not allow drunkenness in our tour vans and if you’re deemed to be intoxicated during our driving times (i.e.: in the morning), you will not be allowed to continue your tour.

Persons found opening alcoholic containers, such as beer bottles, inside the vehicles will be asked to leave the tour!  You can buy them and store them in our cooler as long as they are not open, and then enjoy them once we arrive back to a hotel that evening.   

Please note that there are other tour operators that have more lenient alcohol policies and if you’re a heavy drinker you may be a better fit with them.   We aim to conduct high quality tours in the utmost professionalism and will not allow drunkenness to interfere with any of our tour guest’s experiences.   Please be respectful to your fellow tour guest at all times.
 
I’m a smoker, is that a problem?
Sorry, we do not allow smoking in our vehicles.  However, if you can handle going several hours with a smoke, you should be fine.  We also can not guarantee that we'll be able to secure a smoking room at the hotels that we stay at.  Many places of business, including hotels are becoming "smoke free establishments" and will not allow smoking.  If this is the case and a customer violates the smoking policy of the hotel - the hotel will charge us a cleaning fee, usually in excess of $300.00, and we'll have to charge that back to the customer.   Several of our regular tour guest are smokers and they do fine on our tours - just take your smoke breaks when we stop and be courteous to your fellow non-smoking customers at all times.
 
Will seeing a tornado give me super powers?
No. But, congrats if you've made it this far in the FAQs! 
 
Do I have to participate in any television or documentary productions that are on-going during my tour?
Documenting the storms we experience on tape, film or digital media is a major part of our business model.   All tour participants must sign a personal release form that states that we can include your appearance, voice and likeness in any production that we are affiliated with during your tour.   However, if you really don’t want to be on-camera then speak with your tour leader so they can make note of it and speak with any production crews that are with us and they will do their best to keep you out of their shots.   Our camera crews are non-intrusive to our tour guest, since the nature of their work is to tell the story and not to be the story.
 
Are your tours safe?
Safety is a major concern for us at all times and we’ll discuss the general safety rules in-depth during our orientation meeting before your tour starts.  We have a perfect safety record and we aim to keep it that way.  We also carry all the necessary licensing and insurance requirements to operate our vehicles.  Our vehicles are equipped with several special after-market safety features that will also be explained during our orientation meeting.   Aside from all this, several of our tour guides are experienced Emergency Medical Technicians including our ownership.   Thus we are fully prepared to handle any medical situation that may occur during any tour.   
 
What happens if the weather is clear?
There are times when nature just doesn’t permit severe weather and when these times happen, we switch to “Plan Clear Skies”.   

What is Plan Clear Skies?  We’ll its sort of a mystery plan and basically will depend on our location.   It may include a trip to a national forest or grassland or monument.  We might explore a cave system in New Mexico, or canyons in the Texas Panhandle, or visit a site such as the Mount Rushmore in South Dakota.   We might relax and enjoy one of Oklahoma’s hundreds of lake systems, or pay a visit to a busy city center such as Dallas or Denver.   

We might also use the downtime to help deliver supplies to an area that recently experienced a devastating tornado impact.  We just never know what Plan Clear Skies will bring, but with so much to do we never get bored.   

For disclaimer purposes we’ll also state that there will be times when our group will opt for a “lazy day” during clear weather times.   This could be due to the majority of the tour group needing some time to rest so they enjoy the rest of their tour, or it may be due to the tour leader’s decision based on a future forecast of severe weather within our location the following day.   It is also highly possible that we’ll need to use clear weather days to travel to another part of Tornado Alley to setup in advance of a weather system expected during the following day.  Don’t worry, our vehicles have in-motion satellite television and a DVD player feed any television addictions that may develop on long drives!
 
Can I tag along behind the tour with my own vehicle?
We do not allow “tag along” vehicles as a part of our tour group. Mainly due in part that we can not assert control over your safety when you’re not in our vehicles and in part due to the fact that our experienced drivers will be able to navigate within a storm environment much easier than most “basic” drivers, thus we would likely become separated at some point and this would ruin your tour experience. In the rare event that we do agree to allow you to tag-along behind our vehicles, you’ll be required to sign a vehicle waiver and take responsibility for your own safety and your own windshield!
 
How should I pack for my extreme tornado tour?
We recommend you pack for 6-days, no matter if you’re on a 6-day or a 10-day tour.   If you’re on back to back tours, many of the hotels that we stay at will include coin operated laundry machines where you’ll be able to wash your clothes.  

Several sporting goods stores sell rain and wind proof pants that include legs that easily zip on and off.   These are highly recommended as the climate that we are operating in can change quickly due to the weather systems that we encounter – cold fronts, warm fronts and dry lines all bring quickly changing weather conditions.   Wind suits are also a good choice and easy to pack.

We do ask that you do not wear any clothing that includes a choice of words that would not be appropriate for television viewing audiences.  While our production teams can blur out a t-shirt if needed, it’s not visually appealing.  We do however respect your right to free speech that we enjoy in the United States.  We just ask that you respect your fellow tour guest since they have to look at you and your clothes everyday. 
 
What is the size of the tour group?
Each vehicle only carries six passengers and two tour guides, for a total capacity of eight per vehicle.   Our main vehicles include luxury captain seating, but we do occasionally have to operate a backup vehicle in case of a critical system failure with one of our main units.   These backup units are stock as they come from the factory without the additional after market seating and custom lighting that our main units employ.   

In the unlikely event that we have to employ a backup unit for any reason, we will require that tour guest alternate between vehicles from day to day; this is to allow everyone the equal chances of riding in the remaining main unit during the scope of their tour.

We never operate more than three vehicle units per tour and most tours will only include two or less.   We may also have a television crew of three people or less that will be following our tour vehicles.  So our group sizes can range from eight people to as many as twenty-five people.  We try to keep our group sizes to a minimum for several reasons, including a more personalized experience and to allow us to be compatible with more hotels.
 
I have a question that your FAQ didn’t answer?
We’ve got an answer, just email us off the contact page and we’ll respond in as timely of a manner as possible. We look forward to hearing from you.
 
This is great and I’ve always wanted to do this. Where do I sign-up?
Reservations are extremely simple!   Just visit our tour schedule page and find the tour you want then click the reservation button to the right of the selected week.   You’ll need to provide us your basic contact information and secure your tour deposit online and then your seat will be reserved.