For True Heart-Pounding Thrills and the Most Amazing Photos You’ll Ever Take, Chase a Tornado Across the Heartland of America
Photographing lions on the Serengeti Plain in East Africa from the safety of a truck is tame stuff compared to standing your ground as an enormous, tornado roars by your camera position. The behavior of lions is somewhat predictable, but not tornadoes, which is one of the reasons so many people find it exciting to chase and photograph them. In addition, no two tornadoes are exactly alike, so photographing them allows you to capture extraordinary weather features and conditions that no one has even seen or photographed, or ever will.
Approximately 75 percent of all the tornadoes in the world occur in the United States, or approximately 1,200 per year. From May through early June, tornadoes are more likely to be found on the southern Plains while June and July are when most are seen across the northern plains, including Canada.
Storm chasing photography isn’t a daredevil stunt, however; but an amazing opportunity to learn about climate and weather and witness the tremendous power of the Earth’s atmosphere when the conditions are right. Knowing the best places – and, more importantly, the safest places – to find and photograph tornadoes and other severe weather events requires years of experience.
That is why PhotographyTalk.com highly recommends Roger Hill and Caryn Hill and their company, Silver Lining Tours. Both have outstanding reputations as photographers and 17 years of experience guiding hundreds of photographers through Tornado Alley. Roger and Caryn and their staff of knowledgeable guides can proudly claim to have the highest tornado intercept rate of any comparable tour company. It isn’t just guesswork or sticking a wet finger in the air; the people at Silver Lining Tours are weather experts in their part of the world. There’s no aimless driving, hoping to spot severe weather; they use state-of-the-art technology to forecast climatological conditions every day of the season to know with absolute certainty when to head into the teeth of the weather and where tornadoes are more likely to be spawned.
Major media recognizes the weather expertise of Silver Lining Tours, which is why the company has been consulted and featured on The Weather Channel, National Geographic Channel, Discovery Channel and public television’s science program, NOVA.
“Choosing to go on a tour with Silver Lining gave us the opportunity to witness firsthand the intense beauty that Mother Nature and the Great Plains has to offer up close, all the while knowing we were in safe, experienced hands. The knowledge and professionalism of the tour guides is unmatched. Roger Hill along with his guides are eager to answer all of your questions and willing to explain anything storm-related in ways that someone new to storm chasing or an experienced enthusiast can understand and find useful.”
-- Bill and Anna Stromberg, Los Angeles, CA
An important part of Silver Lining Tours’ technological advantage is how well it has customized its 15-passenger vans. They have the best equipment to follow and pinpoint the weather, to ensure your safety and comfort and to guarantee you will have a window seat throughout your tour.
Silver Lining Tours’ 2015 schedule is already available on its Website – and now is definitely the time to reserve your spot for next season. As of August 2014, 3 of the company’s 11 tours were already sold out.
During the early portion of the season, May and June, the tours take place across the southern Plains: Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, New Mexico and Arkansas. The Caprock Magic Tour in west Texas is a special experience. Standing a thousand feet or more above the plain is the Caprock plateau. It is a geological feature that helps to produce very violent and spectacular storms as the southeasterly winds causes moisture to rise against the face of the plateau.
During the late season – toward the end of July – you can be one of few to go on The Great Northern Tornado Hunt across the northern Plains, Canadian Prairies and the upper Midwest. Your guide on this tour is Roger Hill.
The company also offers two exclusive Silver Lining Photo Tours during May and June if you’re truly serious about taking home photos that will render your friends speechless. Roger and Caryn Hill accompany both these tours to provide their combined expertise to make sure you’ll have the greatest storm chasing experience of your life.
You don’t have a moment to lose to book your 2015 Silver Lining Tour – there are fewer spaces available almost every day and the storms wait for no one. Visit Silver Lining Tours today at silverliningtours.com.
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