Storm chasing: The new street drug?

It's dangerous.  It's expensive.  It can bring unrest to any household.  It's highly addictive.  We're not talking about cocaine, or heroin, or the new little purple pill that's sold on the dark street corner across town.  We're talking about storm chasing - the simple act of chasing down some of Mother Nature's fiercest, yet majestic, creations.  Why do we do it?  The psychology of the question is complex, but the answer is simple.  We do it because the high and the adrenaline rush are inescapable, and it's all 100% legal.

Most of the country's population doesn't care about storm chasing, nor does it concern itself with recognizing storm chasers.  To them, the storm chasing community is viewed as a bunch of renegade adrenaline junkies hell-bent on self-destruction.  I guess a portion of that opinion could be seen as fact.  Storm chasers are indeed adrenaline junkies, and unabashedly so.  The feeling of capturing a tornado on camera for the first time cannot be described.  The exhilaration of "punching the core" of a supercell cannot be matched.  The obsession of looking over model data hour after hour cannot be understood.  The infatuation with air temperatures and dew point temperatures cannot be explained.

There is much to be said about living a life free of drugs.  Not only is it comendable and admirable, it is extremely smart.  According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, between the years 1964 and 2004, cigarette smoking alone caused an estimated 12 million deaths.  That figure doesn't include the deaths related to other drugs, like crack cocaine or methamphetamines, but it could be safely assumed that the figure would dramatically increase. 

The connection between storm chasing and a drug-related addiction seems to be non-evident, but  those in the storm chase community can vouch for its existence.  As with any problem with addiction, there are side-effects - some of which could be severe.  For instance, imagine a storm chaser who has gone the entire spring chase season without seeing a tornado.  To the naked eye, he would appear normal, but looks are deceiving.  His behavior would be erratic and attitude would be poor.  He would be extremely irritable and foul-mouthed, and would be loathing anything and everyone around him.  As with any other addict, however, let him receive his "fix" - a tornado in this case - and he will undergo a drastic 180-degree turn, his manners and attitudes will improve, and all is well in his world.

There are many reasons why storm chasers begin chasing, but those reasons are varied and far-ranging.  But the main constant between all storm chasers is the fact that no where else on the planet can there be found a rush of excitement that is felt chasing down a tornadic supercell.  No where else can there be found an adrenaline high that a chaser gets when he sees his supercell begin to put down a tornado.  Storm chasing is the new street drug - it offers an adrenline rush like no other and an unrelenting addiction, if left untreated, will cause families to split and relationships to crumble.  And it's all 100% legal.