Kevin and Rachel’s Chase-cation
Kevin Brown and Rachel Irey are guests from Missouri who are visiting for a very special and unique reason. They are stormchasers! Kevin, an EMT by profession, is from Kansas originally and grew up with an interest in storms. He has been chasing as a hobby since 2000. Rachel, an emergency dispatcher, has long been interested in storms and weather as well.
They are on a 9-day trip looking for storms to photograph and report, and the Black Hills did not disappoint. Kevin and Rachel use a laptop to track storms and a drone to take photos. They broadcast their chases online using Twitch (see the link below to follow their adventures). They are used to tracking in open country, but chasing storms in the mountains is different according to Kevin. The hail is typically out in front of the storm, but at least three large stones (lemon-sized) manage to catch them on this chase, breaking their windshield. They were fortunate though. Another storm chaser from Missouri was also in the area and was not able to dodge the storm….his rental car was destroyed. Luckily this hail storm did not reach us here at Fish N Fry!
Kevin and Rachel say that capturing tornadoes is a “pinnacle experience” for a stormchaser, and they hope to see one on this trip (we hope it’s not here in Deadwood!). If they are able to catch a tornado they plan to get matching tornado tattoos (and pizza!).
