I travel from South Shields to chase storms across the United States of America

Abbi Adair travels from South Shields to ‘Tornado Alley’, in the United States of America, every two years to chase extreme storms.

The 50-year-old has been in the US since Monday, June 3, and has already travelled through Colorado, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas and South Dakota.

Storm chasing Abbi has told the Shields Gazette that she decided to live out a life-long dream of seeing extreme weather after tragedy hit her family.

She said: “I’ve always been a big fan of extreme weather; heat, cold, thick and deep snow, heavy hail, rain so heavy it floods everything, thunder and lightning, and of course strong winds.

“I lived in Aberdeenshire as a very young child and can still remember the rush of exhilaration one winter when we opened the front door to our house and there was less than a foot of daylight at the top.

“In 2015 I experienced the loss of my nephew to cancer, and it had a profound impact on me. It made me re-evaluate life and from that moment on, I decided that being happy is the biggest success in life.

“So I started to research storm chasing because although it was as a lifelong dream, I didn’t have a clue where to start.

“I soon learned that ‘Tornado Alley’ in the US was the place to go, and there are numerous tour companies who offer the experience.

“My first tour was June 2018. My second tour should have been 2020 but Covid prevented it, so my second tour was 2022 and I’m now currently on my third tour, and loving life.”

Abbi travels across the US with ‘Tempest Tours’ - a group that offer expeditions to tourists who are wanting to see extreme weather.

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For Abbi, the organisation has helped her to meet new friends, travel through a number of US States and see a lot of unique sights.

She commented: “The experience from start to finish is fantastic; the exhilaration and rush from the chase, the sheer elation from experiencing Mother Nature’s power and unpredictability. 

“I’ve met so many interesting people from all over the world, from many walks of life, and I have made some great friends along the way.

“I love that I get to visit so many states in one road trip, and visit so many places off the beaten track that your average tourist wouldn’t see.

“Locals are usually astounded that I’d travel from the UK just to chase their extreme weather, but are always happy to pass the time of day and appear genuinely interested.

“Each storm is unique in presentation, but they all need the same conditions to produce the fun stuff; which for me are super cells, wall clouds, thunder and lightning, hail the size of tennis balls and if you’re super lucky, a tornado.

“There is simply no way of describing the thrill of seeing a tornado form in front of your very eyes, it’s mesmerising.”

Now on her third storm chasing trip, Abbi has revealed the best storm that she has seen while touring the United States.

She added: “The best storm I’ve ever experienced was in Prospect Valley, Colorado, in 2018.

“We were halfway through my very first tour, and there was only a slight chance of tornados that day.

“I remember standing outside the van looking up at the sky above me and seeing the lowering cloud, swirling slowly above my head.

“We had to get out of there quick in case a tornado produced a funnel, as you don’t want to be too close for obvious reasons.

“A little way off (a mile or two), we pulled up alongside the edge of a field and right before our eyes, the most beautiful, writhing tornado formed.

“It lasted about 10 minutes but it one of the most amazing experiences of my life and I’m forever chasing the next one.”