Storm chaser.

Riding out a killer hurricane, chasing tornadoes, and dodging lightning are all part of a day's work for storm-chasing photographer Warren Faidley. Faidley travels the country capturing on film about 100 storms each year. He even worked on last summer's blustery thriller, Twister, giving advice on how to make the movie look real. (He shot the tornado photo on the movie poster too.)

But storm chasing isn't all about fame and fun. It takes a lot of nerve--and knowledge about how, when, and where storms develop.

HURRICANE HUNT

To catch a hurricane, Faidley says, you don't have to do much chasing. "You just put yourself in the middle of it and let it come to you."

Hurricanes develop over the ocean during the summer and early fall. That's when tropical ocean water is at its hottest, so lots of moisture can evaporate to form the storm (see miniposter, p. 12). Because hurricanes take time to grow, scientists and storm chasers like Faidley can use satellite data to see where they are--and where they're likely to strike land.

In 1992, Faidley holed up in a concrete parking garage in Florida all night waiting for hurricane Andrew to hit. "The building shook and the storm raged all around," he recalls. When he ventured outside, he was knocked to the ground by 256-kilometer-per-hour (160mph) winds. But he managed to take stunning photographs of Andrew's assault.

TWISTER FEVER

In contrast to the "sit and wait" approach, finding twisters is a challenge. "Tornado chases are big grand expeditions that require a ton of equipment and detailed [weather] forecasting to figure out where to go," Faidley says. Remember all the hightech stuff in Twister? Well, Faidley's team's custom-designed truck is also full of satellite-data-tracking equipment, computers, and cameras.

The equipment helps Faidley pinpoint where tornadoes may hit. Tornadoes can spring up and disappear suddenly during thunderstorms. During spring--thunderstorm season in the Midwest--the National Weather Service may issue tornado warnings for an area hundreds of miles wide. Faidley could never cover that ground. But with his equipment he can sometimes get 10 to 15 minutes of warning before a twister hits.

When Faidley's team does strike tornado gold, they try to watch the twister from a distance. Still, they've had some close calls. A ghostly white twister that killed 30 people in Texas passed less than a mile from their van. "You really don't want to be close to the bad part," Faidley warns.

PHOTOGENIC FLASHES

The same holds true while photographing lightning, which can kill in a flash (see story, p. 10). But the summer thunderstorms of the American Southwest provide a show Faidley can't resist.

Like all thunderclouds, those over the desert are filled with areas of electrical charge. Negative charges near the bottoms of clouds attract positive charges from objects on Earth. When the attraction grows strong enough--ZAP!--lightning strikes.

The dramatic thing about desert storms, says Faidley, is that the clouds are usually very high. That means there's often nothing between the cloud bottoms and the ground except clear sky--the perfect backdrop for lightning photos.

Faidley has a personal attraction--and respect--for lightning. "Lightning that hit near me launched my career," he says. Energy from the bolt, which Faidley captured striking a light pole just 122 meters (400ft) away, knocked him to the ground. Faidley hopes people who view his photos will be "struck" in another way, by' the sheer beauty--and awesome power--of nature's storms.