We cover an equal number of nights as the length of your tour, including your first night before chasing, also known as your arrival day. Your tour ends at 11:59 PM at the end of your last day of chasing and you may choose to purchase a discounted rate hotel room at our base hotel in OKC to cover that night using our special rates. Our final tour that ends in Denver may not have special rates. This is addressed closer to your tour after the booking process.
Your adventure begins as you fly into one of two of our base cities, Oklahoma City or Denver (Will Rogers World Airport OKC or Denver International Airport DEN) where our host hotels will be ready for you on your arrival day. Your “arrival date” starts the night before your first chase day, and we have orientation at 6 pm in the hotel lobby. 2024 tours and beyond will all begin in OKC with only the final tour ending in Denver. (More detailed info on the process is available after booking)
That depends on the day. We leave our host hotel and will travel at length sometimes to get you onto the best storms. Sometimes we may stay close to our area, and others you may spend many hours on a drive. The goal is always to get you onto the best storms and tornadoes!
Our team is lead by seasoned storm chasers with hundreds of tornadoes under their belts including degreed Oklahoma University severe weather Meteorologist Trey Greenwood- He has a masters under his belt and studied under one of the worlds top tornado researchers, Howie Bluestein. You may have seen our guides on numerous television documentaries about significant tornado events like Joplin, MO and Moore, OK along with other media outlets. They also are operating in a professional capacity as local news stringers and past chase partners for Dr. Reed Timmer.
Our vans are the best in the business with an array of onboard electronics that let us do our jobs to the best of our abilities including the most up to date radar systems with constant GPS positioning and dedicated communications between our team. Entertainment is provided on our long drives including a 17″ HD monitor that we display movies and at times our advanced weather radar on, an upgraded sound system, Sirius XM radio, USB and AC (home style) power banks for charging etc.. Our vans are very tough Ford E350 vans that are religiously maintained with new tires and brakes and are customized with roof racks with off road lighting and rear amber hazards for safety. The vans are 15 passenger with two crew members, allowing us to comfortably carry all the luggage needed while allowing our guests their own comfortable seat with space to stretch and carry bags and/or camera gear!
We offer lodging in proper hotels with your own hotel room each night, think Holiday Inn, Baymont Inn, Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Super 8 etc. and well-appointed accommodations in OKC at our host hotel with a restaurant, bar, amazing breakfast buffet, a sauna, full gym and pool. It can be difficult to find nice hotels when we are in rural areas at night as you could imagine, but we’ve gotten very good at staying in decent hotels and have a corporate lodging account and booking agent. We are constantly complimented on how we are able to coordinate the hotels and find quality places to stay. It is very rare we ever have a negative stay somewhere. We also offer a booking portal for very discounted rates at our host hotel in OKC for nights you will need beyond what we take care of.
On “down days” as we do have some but are rare, we have many options and connections for entertainment including possible tours of our sponsor The National Weather Center in Norman Oklahoma as well as The Twister Museum in Wakita, Dorothy’s house from the Wizard of Oz, Storm Prediction Center, visiting national parks, amazing museums and famous restaurants featured on TV and our famous lake BBQ day trips. We hope to not have many down days, and usually, they are used to travel- But we have become well prepared in many years doing this to keep your tours exciting! We also do our best to meet up with Dr Reed Timmer and the Dominator chasing tank when able, sometimes even chasing alongside him when we can! This is purely on a conditional chance and is not something we can guarantee unfortunately.
We focus on an educational experience with morning forecast meetings with our Meteorologist Trey Greenwood detailing the how and why of where and what we plan to chase that day. As we chase we let you know exactly what is happening and why it happened, you’ll never be left wondering what is going on when we are in the thick of it. All of our guides are accomplished photographers and videographers and absolutely love to help our guests capture your tours to the best of your abilities! You will most certainly learn new skills!
It is important to note that we deal in weather, one of the most unpredictable things on the planet! While we have a very good percentage of our tours seeing tornadoes, we do have one here and there that misses one. Our over the years average is just above 80% of our guests leaving having seen a tornado on tour. Since our companies inception in 2008, we have literally never had a tour not see severe level storms! It’s tough not to in spring in Tornado Alley. Then again you could have a tour like Tour 5 in 2016, seeing 24 tornadoes total with 14 seen IN ONE DAY. So storm chasing is a calculated risk, with a high potential that we provide, that and safety are the biggest reasons you join us! Trust us we want tornadoes too, this is what we do! Additionally, the tours are about so much more, visiting the same places you have seen on TV and the Web for significant weather events, touring weather minded locations, learning from pros, and most importantly chasing with like-minded people in your element. Who knows, you may find the love of your life, we have had guests meet on tours that are now married and became engaged in front of a supercell!
You will receive an ETT T-shirt and decal upon arrival, and season recap digital download video in fall after the season concludes.
It is recommended you book the night of your last chase day as this is the end of your tour with us and the lodging nights we take care of. Remember, we take care of the night before your first chase day, also known as your arrival date, through the night before your last chase day for an equal amount of lodging nights vs chase days. It is important you have your own lodging established at the end of your final chase day as this is the end of your tour and when we part ways, sometimes after a long day chasing/traveling so it is likely you will be tired.
Many guests also choose to arrive the day before the arrival date. This is recommended for those traveling internationally as it gives you time to rest before the great deal of traveling we will do on tour. It is also important for those traveling longer distances because arriving on the same day as your arrival day limits you in getting there on time to attend our 6 pm arrival day orientation and flight delays can complicate that. If you are able to arrive by 3pm comfortably on your arrival date you should be fine.
In the event that you might or will miss the orientation we ask that you contact us through our website messaging services or on our mobile phone line at (405) 465-2639 to coordinate a plan with Tour Director Nick. It is highly recommended you make the orientation meeting as it covers our safety topics in depth. We have protocol that allows you to speak to the front desk when you arrive late to find out our time of departure the next morning and we will safety brief you then. If you miss our first chase day departure time we may not be able to accommodate your tour with us at all as we sometimes don’t make it back to our host city until the end of the tour.
If you would like to stay at our host hotel a day early or on your last chase day, the hotel offers our special discounted rates that you may take advantage of, and you can do so via our guest booking portal with our host hotel. This portal is sent out to your email on file in January in the same year as your tour. Our hotel is one of the nicer ones in the area, and our prices are much lower than you will find otherwise that time of year.
Tours out of OKC are in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and are handled by Will Rogers World Airport (OKC) Please find their website for information here: https://flyokc.com
Tours out of DEN are in Denver, Colorado, are handled by Denver International Airport (DIA) Please find their website for information here: https://flydenver.com
Book your flights to come into your host/base city in time to get you to our host hotel by 7pm at the latest on your “arrival day” (see hotel booking above for suggested arrival times so you are able to attend our orientation.)
Remember, we take care of your lodging the night of arrival date through the night before your last chase day. We will have you back to host hotel by 11:59pm on your last chase day and your tour will be completed then.
Hotel information will be sent out to you as an email info pack in January the same year as your tour.
Ridesharing (Uber, Lyft etc.) services are available in both OKC and Denver and are a great way to get to our host hotel. Travel time from airport is usually 5-10 minutes in OKC and 15-20 minutes in Denver.
1 Suitcase: Nothing massive please, good size guideline would be around 30″ x 20″ x 14″ or 78cm x 52cm x 36cm
1 Medium size camera bag or backpack (something to stow under the seat and have handy)
1 Small bag, ladies handbag, fanny pack etc)
Cameras up to a full-size DSLR or camcorder are fine, basically anything you can fit into that camera bag mentioned above
Small, lightweight backpack style tripods are allowed.
Medicines, prescriptions, eyeglasses, contact lenses, personal hygiene items or any items specific to your health and well-being. In the event you missed something important, we would be happy to stop by a Walmart or drug store to pick something up when able.
Clothing for various weather temperatures. The majority of the time the weather should be mild during our tours, but it can range from near freezing to very hot depending on the weather systems and time of year. A general rule of thumb is to be able to quickly change for both cold/warm while in the van as the weather can vary wildly from even one hour to the next. These changes are what power our unique climatology here in Tornado Alley. Large winter coats or gear are probably not necessary, but plan on layering for closer temps.
Footwear should be something comfortable but hardy, mostly sneakers, light hiking shoes are all great options. Flip Flops or sandals are fine but not the best item to wear on a chase day. Getting your shoes muddy is a possibility while on chases. Comfort is king here so plan your footwear accordingly.
Items to document your adventure. This could be as basic as a cell phone, up to a professional camera. GoPro’s, action cameras etc., are all recommended. Anything small but powerful, that has great batteries and storage, and speaking of storage, make sure to bring extra SD cards etc., and all charging cables. If all you have is a phone that is no problem at all, these days they are very capable.
Entertainment. Headphones especially noise canceling are a great idea, as not everyone likes to listen to the same music as each other in our vans. Books, music players, video games and any items to keep you entertained while on tour on those long drives are a near-essential item.
Items of comfort. A neck travel pillow, very light small blanket, sunglasses, sunscreen, bug spray etc.. Possibly a bathing suit for the pool/jacuzzi at the hotel.
We bring cold water in coolers in the vans at all times so you can sometimes use them to throw an extra drink or maybe a snack in for later if there is room.
Luggage over our size limits or additional items beyond our guidelines. (if you are linking our tour into longer travel plans and your gear is too large you must store it on your own, we do not manage storage beyond what we are able to take unfortunately. This can be done at storage units or airports.)
Large cameras or heavy-duty tripods, time lapse slides.
Illicit/illegal drugs of any kind
Illegal weapons of any kind.
You may not drink any alcoholic beverages in the vans. However, if alcohol is sealed as new for later use outside the vans where legal, that’s OK to be transported.
Those under 21 years old may not drink alcoholic beverages of any kind at any time.
Legal Cannabis of any kind may not be consumed in the vans or taken across state lines from legal states.
Smoking is not allowed in the vans but is fine where legal.
Drone usage is not recommended as they have a strong likelihood of being lost in high wind and in most cases the tours would not be able to stop our progression to search for your drone when lost. If you are ok with this and understand we can’t go out of our way to help you if lost and we will not beheld liable for any losses, you may bring one small drone that complies with FAA standards and is under .55lbs.
Any violation of these guidelines can result in immediate dismissal from our tours at the tour director or guides discretion.