Welcome to Stormgroup Chasers

Sharing a passion for Severe Weather combined with a love of photography

Slide 1 Slide 2 Slide 3 Slide 4 Slide 5

04 October 2024

Why Would I Book with StormGroup Chasers?

An unforgettable experience - our highly experienced tour guides will provide you with superb storm chasing. From the Dakotas to Kansas, west to the foothills of the Rockies, south to Oklahoma and the balmy, humid Texas Gulf Coast, our team has the knowledge, skill, and experience to provide the best storm chasing tour you’ll ever take. A guest who joined us in both 2023 & 2024 said: “I have chased with 2 other chase groups and hands down this was the best”.

Run on a non-profit basis just for the love of stormchasing - so you can rest assured that we will not be charging extra fees nor focused on just a money-making operation, but delivering you a professionally-run collaborative small group experience focused on our shared passion for chasing severe weather.

Safety, Education & Sights - we’ll take you on an incredible & safe journey, educating you about storm chasing & meteorology as we experience severe weather, along with taking in the sights of Americana across the Plains.

Extensive experience, proven track record - with over 20 years of experience tracking storms & exploring the Plains, our guides are experts at predicting weather patterns, ensuring that you won’t miss out on chasing opportunities.

Small personalised tours - our focus is giving you a personalised experience that you will never forget. You can explore the beauty of nature and experience the awe-inspiring power of storms from the safety of our full size SUV.

The best "value for money" tour available, plus option to share a room - you can share a room with a chasing partner, to further reduce your costs.

Book Now! - don't delay! join us for the adventure of a lifetime!

Update - October 4th, 2024

Spots for the 2025 season are going quickly - 4 seats left on Tour 2, one seat left on Tour 4, and 3 seats have just become available on Tour 5. Don't miss out by delaying your booking - just a $500 deposit payable to confirm your place with us.

2025 Storm Chasing Season - Change in Format

We will offer a mix of 7 day and 10 day tours in 2025 - the first 3 tours will be 7 days, operating out of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma - the next 2 tours will be 10 days, operating out of Denver, CO.

Dates for the 2025 storm chasing season are now available for booking under the Tours tab.

2024 Chase Memories - Tour 3, 2024

A chasing memories pack for Tour 3 in 2024 can now be viewed with a download link below in Explore A Tour. This will give you a great perspective on our chase tours.

2024 SGC Season - Chase Accounts

Another successful chase season has just finished - for detailed chase accounts, photos and video go to Peter Wharton - Storm Chaser <link embedded to the left> on Facebook - see what we witnessed in a very active 2024 season.

2024 Highlight Photos <and previous chasing seasons>

Highlight photos from the 2024 season are now being posted on my Aminus3 photoblog - click on https://pwharton.aminus3.com/image/2024-10-11.html to access photos, posted on their usual "once a day" process starting October 11th, 2024, then through November 25th, 2024 - 46 images in total.

Accessible through the Gallery tab above are previous chase season highlight photos displayed in the Portfolio on the Aminus3 site.

Testimonials

Scroll down this page to the bottom under What Our People Say for an extensive number of happy testimonials - 4 examples, then a link to a file with testimonials going back to 2011.

Compare Us with Other Tour Operators

Visit Storm Chasing USA, an independent review site at https://www.stormchasingusa.com/tour-operators/

What We Have to Offer You

Small personalised tours - be part of a group of like-minded people joining together to pursue and capture the "whole severe storm experience" - tornadoes, supercells, lightning and severe weather of all kinds.

Track record - StormGroup Chasers has an impressive track record over its 12 chasing seasons <interrupted for 2 years by Covid-19>, with nearly 100 tornadoes witnessed, including some major EF5 tornadoes. We have been on most of the major outbreaks over the years - including Joplin, La Crosse, Kingfisher, Ault, Moore, Carney, Hutchinson, El Reno & Dodge City.

NEXT TOUR

Tour 2 - 2025 (7 Days)

On the Road:
Sunday, May 11 through
Saturday, May 17

Arrive in Oklahoma City on May 10th, depart Oklahoma City on May 18th


REQUEST BOOKING
VIEW ALL UPCOMING TOURS
EXPLORE A TOUR

If you'd like to see what an actual tour looks like, click on the download button below, and view Tour 3 in 2024.

DOWNLOAD

BOOKING OPTIONS AND DIRECT TOUR COSTS

Tours are either 7 days or 10 days - and deliver a full 7 or 10 days chasing severe weather - weather permitting.

Tour costs - if you share a room with a chasing partner on a 7 day tour, costs are only $2,050 USD each ... for a 10 day tour, costs are only $2,900 USD each if you share a room.

For a single booking in your own room, then it’s $2,500 USD for a 7 day tour, or $3,500 USD for a 10 day tour.

What does this cover? - this covers all tour operating costs, including all of your hotel bookings for the tour.

THE CHASE

Unique collaborative experience - whether you know a lot about chasing severe storms or are just beginning to explore Mother Nature's fury, StormGroup Chasers will offer you a unique collaborative experience where the key words are communication, learning, photography and fun.

Learn from us - with access to all of the weather software and forecasting sites and models, you’ll be able to take part in the daily decision-making about chase targets, while learning about what drives severe storms, based on over twenty years of chasing severe storms and a life-time interest in the weather.

One vehicle for nimble chasing - each tour is either seven or ten days on the road using one chase vehicle, allowing flexibility of movement to make the best use of our chase days. With two drivers and four passengers, everyone has a window seat. While there is no guarantee of tornadoes, StormGroup Chasers will chase all available storms for the best "severe storm experience".

Safety is our guide - while safety is paramount, being able to creatively photograph the experience is a primary objective. From the power and beauty of a tornado or supercell, to a striking cloud formation, or a beautiful sunset, or a scene encountered on route, each day will take into account our shared love of photography.

Book now - please join us for a personalised and flexible approach to experiencing the annual drama on the Plains - a unique collaborative chasing opportunity.

TESTIMONIALS

What our people say

2023 - witness big cloud ships in the sky, fervent lightning shows, twisters - and have access to a wealth of weather science while you're at it. All this and more can be found when chasing with Peter. Not to mention invaluable daily picnics, great local restaiurant picks (beyond burgers & bbq) and a daily hit of local historic landmarks of whichever town you end up in. Honestly, have chased with 2 other chase groups and hands down this was the best. Forget the "extreme" van packs out to punch cores. A healthy (minimal gas station dinners) sensible (but always thrilling) chase aspect, not to mention cultured (Buddy Holly Museum anyone?) option exists. A true diamond in the rough here.

Read more +

Hardev

United States

2023 - I’ve been fascinated with storms since my early childhood growing up on Lake Temiskaming in the James Bay Frontier. I love photography and taking a break from “city life” so I took the opportunity in 2022 to go on a storm trip with Peter Wharton. You need to give yourself a first trip to understand how storm chasing works. Then came the second trip this year. Peter put together a road trip chasing storms through the central US that surpassed my expectations. Leave your wifi behind and the tourists in the run of the mill vacations ! … to witness the power of nature with your own eyes and in my case, take a ton of pictures . This storm trip 2023 has been one of my ultimate vacation experiences!

Read more +

Louise

Canada

2019 - I first met Peter on board a tall ship sailing from the Falklands to Antarctica in 2013/14. During some of the quiet parts of the passage he entertained the rest of the crew with some excellent lectures about the how the atmosphere works and the formation of storms and of course storm chasing.

As an avid yachtsman I was impressed and intrigued by his stories of severe weather, combined with a road trip through parts of the USA that I hadn’t visited previously, so I made a commitment to join one of his tours.

Well after 5 years I finally bit the bullet and joined Tour 3 in 2019 for 10 days of chasing. I met up with Peter and the rest of the crew in the evening after they had been off for a bonus day of chasing, I’d been delayed by severe storms grounding flights between Houston and OK City. This seemed to set the pattern for the next 10 days, we had one of the most active periods for severe weather that Peter has ever seen. The group of ‘strangers” gelled very quickly, gelled into a team.

Peter and his co-driver Jan, (a rock guitarist for a famous Dutch metal band!), did a fantastic job of planning, targeting and navigating us to at least one storm cell every day. Their approach to chasing produced excellent viewing and photography opportunities without taking unnecessary risks and without getting mixed up with large convoys of chase vehicles. There was also plenty of time to take in interesting museums and natural wonders whilst making our way to where the day’s storms were due to initiate. Peter also seems to know all the best places for breakfast (and dinner if chasing allowed).

I think we were very fortunate with the high level of severe weather, allowing us to see 4 tornadoes and multiple supercell storms and several severe hail storms with up to 3” hail on the ground. But the trip would have still been a great experience even if there hadn’t been as many storms, a road trip with a group of like-minded individuals.

I will definitely do another trip with SGC in the future.

Read more +

Roger

United Kingdom

2018 - In my part of the world, we use the word “lagniappe” to describe that little extra something life occasionally hands to us. Whether it’s a small piece of good fortune or even the extra cookie slipped into the baker’s box, lagniappe prompts the simple joy of receiving something unexpected.

My expectations for the Stormgroup Chasers tour were high; I’d been conditioned by my husband’s previous experiences with Peter Wharton and a gang of folks from all over the world whom my husband now calls friends. My husband had waxed poetic about his own storm chases, citing Peter’s expertise, Peter’s conservative views regarding safety and storm chasing without sacrificing quality of experience, and the sheer delight not only in catching the occasional funnel, but in watching storm development from cradle to grave.

What I hadn’t anticipated were the bonuses of the tour. Yes, I felt safe, my curiosity was piqued, and I saw beautiful cloud formations and countryside views. What I hadn’t expected was the sense of being included as a valuable team member, despite my amateur status. I hadn’t expected the unique pleasure of traveling with like-minded folks who appreciate the dynamism of nature and its beauty. I hadn’t expected to laugh as much as we did, despite our group coming from several different countries and from a variety of cultures. I was humbled and felt the universality of a sense of wonderment as our team viewed slices of America. Together.

Aaaaah. It was hard to return to real life after the excitement of the tour. But as I look outside to the threatening heavens, I realize that perhaps the greatest lagniappe is the new eyes with which I scan my own Mississippi skies.

Read more +

Jo Ann

United States

Read all of our happy testimonials going back to 2011
DOWNLOAD

Sharing a passion for Severe Weather combined with a love of photography