The Fine Art Of Tenacity 1996-1999 Storm Chase Adventures by Shane Adams DVD * 1996-1999 * 108min * R for language * $20.00 S&H Included These are the first years and tornado intercepts of my chasing career. Ride along with me as a rookie, and watch as I slowly gain experience and learn the ropes. Features my first chase/tornado near Wayne, OK, and nearly forty minutes' worth of action from the historic May 3, 1999 tornado outbreak. We all start somewhere, and this video is where it all began for me.

 

June 6, 1996 The day that started it all. After spending seventeen years of my life wanting to see a tornado, I'm tired of waiting for one to come to me. Not even planning to become a storm chaser, but just wanting to see a tornado once in my life, a friend and I, on the spur-of-the-moment, decide to grab a video camera and chase down a storm. As fate would have it, we somehow manage to be in the right spot at the right time, and capture a brief tornado. Seeing and videotaping my first tornado sparks a passion inside me to see more, and from this moment on I dedicate my life to chasing and documenting tornadoes on videotape. Without this segment, there would be no others.

 

May 25, 1997 This brief segment features the chase that got the monkey off our backs. Nearly a year after our first chase/tornado, we finally score our second tornado day. We intercept our first tornado near Wynnewood, OK but in the ensuing excitement and chaos, we fail to get it on video. However later on we score our second tornado of the day, albeit brief, which we do manage to capture on video.

 

May 29, 1997 This segment features one of my all-time favorite chases. We intercept a storm near May, Oklahoma, and stay with it for over an hour as it slowly lumbers southeast across the open plains. Though the storm takes on HP characteristics, cycles down several times, and is difficult to see into, we manage to stay with it and stay in position to view the storm's notch. As dusk falls, we're rewarded as the storm finally produces a brief but large tornado, that almost every other chaser misses due to bad visibility. Our diligence pays off with a near-exclusive tornado as rookies, becoming the highlight of our year and an important confidence booster to push us to the next level.

 

June 11, 1997 This segment features the chase that closed out a great three-week, four-chase run for us. In the middle of our late-season hot streak, we venture into the Texas panhandle and experience our first dose of "six 'o clock magic", as a powerful supercell forms to our west. We drive to intercept, and are able to set up and enjoy the view while the storm slowly rumbles across open country. We observe a brief tornado, and then bail out to the south as rain begins to fall at our location (and in doing so, miss out on a half-mile-wide F3 tornado that would form just minutes after we left). Reaching the interstate, we move west to get in front of the approaching storm, unaware of the rain-wrapped monster within. The storm passes to our east, and we wisely back off and let it roll by. Once clear, we move east and encounter a 3/4 mile-wide damage swath from the tornado. Though we're extremely disappointed we missed the tornado, our decision to stop was a life-saver. We move south and later on observe a second brief tornado northwest of Wellington, TX, bringing our awesome late season run to a close.

 

April 15, 1998 This brief segment chronicles my longest chase to date mileage-wise. We decide at 2am on the morning of the event, after reading the SPC outlook and discussion, that we're going to Illinois. We load up the car, jump in, and take off at 4:30am. After a long drive, we finally reach Murphysboro, IL. We set up in a Kroger parking lot, watching and waiting. After what seems like an eternity, we finally get a storm to develop northwest of us, near St. Louis, and race to intercept. Despite having to fight several towns, a bad road network, and horrible terrain, we manage to position ourselves for a twenty-second shot of a brief tornado north of Coulterville, as it moves rapidly by us behind a farmstead.

 

April 8, 1999 Another brief segment featuring another marathon chase. We target central Missouri on a High Risk day, and end up in Macon as a tornadic supercell approaches from the southwest. We make a quick stop for gas, then race west to meet the storm. We stop east of New Cambria and set up, as a large rain-wrapped tornado races by to our northwest at nearly 50mph. We only get a brief look at it, but the tornado puts on an amazing show as it momentarily becomes visible within the heavy rain, displaying incredible rotation. After it passes by, we jump in the car and head back east, trying to pace it. We stop as a billboard sign is ripped down by fierce inflow winds. As I'm dialing 911 to report the tornado, a large piece of the billboard is picked up and flown across the road, right in front of us, nearly striking a moving truck.

 

May 3, 1999 This segment features one of the most incredible and historic events of all-time. After near-disaster is averted when my roommate rescues me roadside after my truck breaks down, we jump onto Storm A, which produces the infamous Moore/OKC F5 tornado right over the highway in front of us as we drive north towards it. We pull over and shoot video as this monster tornado rapidly grows in size and intensity, as it roars over open country. Little do we know at this point, this tornado will track for over an hour, right into densely-populated areas of Moore and Oklahoma City. We pack it up and move north as the tornado begins to move away from us to the east, grinding the landscape underneath a gigantic wall cloud and updraft, which display amazing structure and power. Once we realize the tornado isn't going to stop, we decide to break off the storm, not wanting to see the destruction it will cause. We turn back west and get on Storm B, from which we observe nine tornadoes over the next hour and a half, including the picturesque Minco tornado, which morphs into every shape possible as it dances in front of our vidcam.

 

May 31, 1999 The final segment of the video that features a classic chase. On a day where most chasers target southwest Kansas, we end up in further south in northwest Oklahoma. After sitting around for hours watching and waiting, we finally decide to make a run at a developing storm to our north, heading into southwest Kansas. However, only a few miles into this decision, I look over my shoulder to the distant southwest, and see a mature supercell. We immediately turn around and race towards the storm, which is over an hour away. With nearly everyone else in southwest Kansas, we have this event all to ourselves. We eventually get on the storm, and track it for the next few hours, as it slowly lumbers across the Oklahoma countryside, producing a trio of tornadoes. The last of these puts on a dramatic display, as it morphs from a large bowl to a classic cone and finally, a large tear drop.