Level B1
My Life as a Storm Chaser
The Man Who Drives Toward Tornadoes
Marcus from Birmingham drives toward tornadoes for a living in Oklahoma. He tells Olivia how he got hooked, what a normal chase day looks like and how a storm nearly caught him in the mud.
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hookedadjective
Very interested in something and wanting to do it again and again.
I watched one episode of the series last night, and now I'm hooked.
blameverb
To say that someone or something caused a problem.
My brother always blames the dog when food disappears from the kitchen.
savingsnoun
Money that you keep and don't spend, often in a bank.
She used her savings to buy her first car.
for goodphrase
Forever, with no plan to come back or change.
After ten years in London, my aunt moved back to Spain for good.
add upphrasal verb
When small amounts slowly become a big amount.
A coffee every morning doesn't seem expensive, but it adds up.
forecastnoun
A report that says what the weather will probably be like.
The forecast says it will rain all weekend, so we moved the picnic.
hailnoun
Small balls of ice that fall from the sky like rain.
The hail was so loud on the roof that we couldn't hear the TV.
spinverb
To turn round and round very fast.
The children spun in circles in the garden until they fell over.
bustnoun
A plan or event that goes wrong and gives you nothing.
The fishing trip was a bust, because nobody caught a single fish.
shortcutnoun
A quicker way to get somewhere than the usual road.
We took a shortcut through the park and arrived ten minutes early.
slipperyadjective
Wet or smooth, so it's easy to fall or slide.
Be careful, the kitchen floor is still slippery after I cleaned it.
ditchnoun
A long, narrow hole at the side of a road or field, often with water in it.
My bike hit a stone and I ended up in a ditch full of leaves.
recklessadjective
Doing dangerous things without thinking about what could happen.
He lost his licence for reckless driving on the motorway.
selfishadjective
Thinking only about yourself and forgetting about other people.
It was a bit selfish of me to eat the last piece of cake.
warningnoun
A message that tells people about danger before it happens.
There was a warning on the radio about ice on the roads this morning.
Did you understand?
Choose the correct answer.
1. How did Marcus first get interested in tornadoes?
2. What does England have a Guinness World Record for?
3. What happened on Marcus's first storm chasing tour?
4. What was special about the El Reno tornado in 2013?
5. What did Marcus do when the tornado came close to his car?
Exercise 1
Who said it?
Complete the quote with a word from the list. Then guess who said it: Olivia or Marcus?
1. “and little Marcus was .”
Who said it?
2. “My mum still that tornado for everything.”
Who said it?
3. “Chasers call a day without a tornado a , and you get used to busts.”
Who said it?
4. “After El Reno, part of me thinks chasing is a bit .”
Who said it?
5. “The mud there is bright red clay, and after rain it's as as soap.”
Who said it?
Exercise 2
Word partners
Match each phrase with the word from the list that often goes with it. Two words are extra.
to spend all your
a five-day weather
to take a
the costs quickly
an early
to slide into a
Marcus took a shortcut and ended up in a ditch. Use one pair in a sentence about your own life.
Exercise 3
Your turn
Would you pay three thousand dollars for a week in Marcus's van, knowing it could be a bust? Write three or four sentences. Use at least two words from the list.
Your text is saved on this device.
I would say yes, and I would happily spend my savings on it. Even if the trip was a bust, I could watch the hail and the amazing skies. I would be careful and never take a shortcut on a muddy road. And of course I would text my mum every evening so she doesn't think I'm dead.
Full transcript
Show the transcript
Marcus
The rain stopped, just like that. And then the whole car started to shake.
Olivia
How far away was it?
Marcus
About a mile, but it felt much closer than that.
Olivia
And you couldn't drive away?
Marcus
I couldn't drive anywhere, because my car was stuck in the mud.
Olivia
This is Aprendos English, level B1. I'm Olivia. My guest today drives toward tornadoes for a living. Marcus is twenty-seven, he grew up in Birmingham, in England, and he now lives in Norman, Oklahoma.
Marcus
Hiya. Thanks for having me.
Olivia
We'll come back to that mud, I promise. But first, why does a guy from Birmingham chase tornadoes?
Marcus
Because Birmingham had one first.
Olivia
Wait. England has tornadoes?
Marcus
Oh, loads. In July 2005 a big one went through the south of the city, when I was six. It crossed my nan's road in Kings Heath.
Olivia
Oh no. Was she okay?
Marcus
She was fine, she was at the shops. Nobody died that day, but about forty people were hurt. And the next morning there were huge trees lying across her road…
Olivia
…and little Marcus was .
Marcus
Completely hooked. My mum still that tornado for everything.
Olivia
Okay, but one tornado in England sounds like a freak event.
Marcus
Okay, guess how many tornadoes the UK gets in a normal year.
Olivia
Hmm... two? Maybe three?
Marcus
Around thirty.
Olivia
Thirty? No way.
Marcus
It's true! And for its size, England actually gets more tornadoes than any other country in the world.
Olivia
More than Oklahoma? Come on, Marcus.
Marcus
For its size, yes, and there's even a Guinness World Record for it.
Olivia
I'm checking that. I'm a journalist.
Marcus
Please do. Most of them are tiny, mind. They knock over a garden fence or take a few tiles off a roof.
Olivia
So English tornadoes are polite.
Marcus
Very polite. They probably say sorry afterwards.
Olivia
So how does a six-year-old in Birmingham end up in Oklahoma?
Marcus
Slowly. I studied meteorology at Reading. Then I spent all my on a storm chasing tour in Oklahoma. It was two weeks in a van with strangers.
Olivia
What does something like that cost?
Marcus
Most tours cost about three thousand dollars…
Olivia
…for two weeks?
Marcus
For one week in a van, eating crisps at petrol stations. Honestly, it was the best money I ever spent.
Olivia
And then you just stayed?
Marcus
Not quite. The next spring the tour company needed a driver, so I came back. Four years ago I moved to Norman , after a lot of paperwork.
Olivia
Why Norman, though? It's a college town.
Marcus
It's basically the weather capital of the country. One building there, the National Weather Center, has the Storm Prediction Center and the local weather service office. The university's meteorology school is in the same building too.
Olivia
So it's a big school for weather nerds.
Marcus
Pretty much. When I get my coffee over there, you can hear people arguing about clouds in the queue.
Olivia
So is storm chasing your full-time job?
Marcus
In spring, yes. From April to June I drive for the tour company and help with the . Sometimes a TV station buys my videos too.
Olivia
And the rest of the year?
Marcus
I work in a bike shop. It's a bit less exciting.
Olivia
Wait, so storm chasers aren't rich?
Marcus
Most chasers spend more than they earn, because petrol and tyres very quickly. And so do windscreens.
Olivia
Windscreens? From what?
Marcus
. I've lost three windscreens in four years…
Olivia
…oh, I actually know a hail story. In 2010 a man in South Dakota picked up a hailstone almost as big as a volleyball.
Marcus
Vivian! That's the record one.
Olivia
Yes! Eight inches across, and nearly two pounds. He kept it in his freezer.
Marcus
I've seen the photos. If one of those hits your car, you'll need a whole new car.
Olivia
So walk me through a normal chase day. What time do you get up?
Marcus
About seven. First I check the Storm Prediction Center. Every morning they publish a map with five risk levels, from marginal to high.
Olivia
And you want high.
Marcus
Everyone wants high, but it hardly ever happens. Usually I'm happy with a slight or an enhanced risk.
Olivia
What are you looking for on the maps?
Marcus
Two big things. You want warm, wet air near the ground, and winds that change direction higher up. That turning wind is what can make a storm .
Olivia
And then you pick a place?
Marcus
We call it a target, and it's usually a small town in Kansas or the Texas Panhandle. Then we drive…
Olivia
…how far?
Marcus
Sometimes four hundred miles in one day.
Olivia
And when you get there?
Marcus
We wait, usually at a petrol station, eating crisps.
Olivia
The crisps again.
Marcus
The crisps are a big part of the job. Then late in the afternoon the storms go up, and if you're lucky you get a supercell.
Olivia
That's the rotating kind, right?
Marcus
Exactly, a thunderstorm with a huge spinning column of air inside. They look like a spaceship coming down to land.
Olivia
And every supercell makes a tornado?
Marcus
No, most of them don't. Only about one in five produces a tornado.
Olivia
So how often do you actually see one? Half your chase days?
Marcus
Oh, much less than that. On my first tour we saw zero tornadoes in two weeks.
Olivia
Zero! After three thousand dollars?
Marcus
Well, it was two weeks, so it was six thousand, actually.
Olivia
Marcus!
Marcus
I know. But we saw giant hail and the most amazing skies. Chasers call a day without a tornado a , and you get used to busts.
Olivia
Okay, it's a good day. Where do you park?
Marcus
Most storms here move toward the northeast, so you want to be southeast of the storm.
Olivia
Why there?
Marcus
The tornado usually forms near the back of the storm. North of that is the heavy rain and the big hail. We call that part the core.
Olivia
And you stay out of the core.
Marcus
You try to. Some chasers drive straight through it to get closer, and we call that core punching…
Olivia
…which sounds like a terrible idea.
Marcus
It often is, because sometimes the tornado is hidden inside all that rain. Chasers call that area the bear's cage.
Olivia
The bear's cage? Who names these things?
Marcus
Tired chasers at two in the morning, I reckon. It makes sense, though. The tornado is the bear, and you don't want to drive into its cage.
Olivia
So what's the most dangerous part of the job? The tornado itself?
Marcus
Honestly? The driving. You're tired and the roads are wet, and everyone is looking at the sky instead of the road.
Olivia
That's so boring. I wanted a scary answer.
Marcus
It's scary on the road, trust me. On a big day there can be hundreds of chasers on the same small country roads. Then there's lightning, and lightning doesn't care how good you are.
Olivia
Water scares me more. I was reporting in Louisiana once, and a flash flood turned the road into a river.
Marcus
What did you do?
Olivia
I backed up very slowly and cried a little.
Marcus
Good choice. Floods on the roads kill people here too.
Olivia
I have to ask about El Reno. For a lot of Americans, that name means something terrible.
Marcus
Yeah. It was the 31st of May, 2013, near El Reno in Oklahoma. It became the widest tornado ever recorded.
Olivia
How wide?
Marcus
Two point six miles across. And it changed direction and suddenly got much faster, so some chasers were caught right in its path.
Olivia
And some didn't make it.
Marcus
A man called Tim Samaras died, with his son Paul and his colleague Carl Young. They were researchers, and everyone knew them as very careful people. They were the first storm chasers known to die in a tornado.
Olivia
Were they the only ones?
Marcus
No. A local man who followed the storm died too, and four other drivers, so eight people in total. I was fourteen, reading about it in Birmingham, and I couldn't sleep that night.
Olivia
And only eleven days earlier, there was the Moore tornado…
Marcus
…on the 20th of May, yes.
Olivia
It was an EF5, the strongest level, and twenty-four people died. Seven of them were children at an elementary school.
Marcus
That's the one people here still talk about very quietly.
Olivia
But the came about sixteen minutes early, and experts think that saved many lives.
Marcus
And that's a big part of our job, actually. We report what we see to the National Weather Service, because radar can't see everything near the ground.
Olivia
Hmm... I'll be honest, though. After El Reno, part of me thinks chasing is a bit .
Marcus
Selfish? How?
Olivia
More cars on the roads, and people driving toward the danger while everyone else drives away.
Marcus
Okay, that's fair. Some chasers are , and they do block roads. But good reports help the warnings, so I'd rather have careful chasers out there than none.
Olivia
Careful. Says the man who got stuck in the mud.
Marcus
Right, fair enough, you got me there.
Olivia
So tell me about the mud.
Marcus
Three years ago in May, on my day off, I went out alone. That was big mistake number one.
Olivia
I'm guessing mistake number two was a .
Marcus
Exactly, a dirt road through the fields in western Oklahoma. The mud there is bright red clay, and after rain it's as as soap.
Olivia
And you slid into a .
Marcus
Straight in, with the front wheels in the water and the back wheels in the air. The storm was about two miles to the west…
Olivia
…and coming straight at you?
Marcus
It was moving toward the northeast, so it was coming close, but hopefully a bit north of me.
Olivia
Hopefully! That's a big word, Marcus.
Marcus
A massive word. Then my phone died, so I had no radar at all.
Olivia
What did the sky look like?
Marcus
Dark green and black. Then the rain stopped suddenly and the wind turned really warm, and I knew exactly what that meant…
Olivia
…that it was close.
Marcus
Very close. I saw the tornado come out of the rain about a mile north. It was grey and wide, with bits of fence flying around it.
Olivia
What do you even do in that moment?
Marcus
The rule is to find a ditch and cover your head, but my ditch was full of water. So I stayed in the car with my seatbelt on and my head down below the windows.
Olivia
Some people hide under bridges, don't they? Is that…
Marcus
…no, never, that's a famous myth. The wind gets faster under a bridge, and the flying rubbish comes with it.
Olivia
So you're lying down in the car...
Marcus
And the car is shaking like an old washing machine. After maybe a minute, everything went quiet.
Olivia
Wow. And then?
Marcus
Then a farmer came along on his tractor, and he didn't look surprised at all. He looked at me, looked at the car, and said, "You're not from around here, are you?"
Olivia
Because of the accent or the ditch?
Marcus
Both, I reckon. He pulled me out and gave me a bottle of water. I still send him a Christmas card.
Olivia
And your mum? Did you tell her?
Marcus
Not for a whole year. She found out when I told the story at my sister's wedding…
Olivia
…in front of everyone?
Marcus
In front of everyone. Now every time Oklahoma is on the BBC News, she texts me, "Are you dead?"
Olivia
Just that?
Marcus
Just that, three words and no hello.
Olivia
By the way, I checked while you were talking. You're right. Guinness says England has the most tornadoes for its size.
Marcus
Told you.
Olivia
I still think Oklahoma tornadoes are scarier.
Marcus
Oh, much scarier. The English ones just have better manners.
Olivia
Last question. Someone listening wants to try storm chasing. What do you tell them?
Marcus
Go with people who know what they're doing, and stay off red dirt roads after rain. And remember that the best view is often from ten miles away. From there you can watch the whole storm turning slowly in the evening light. That's the picture I keep.
Olivia
That's lovely. Marcus, thank you so much for this.
Marcus
Cheers, Olivia, I really enjoyed it.
Olivia
Now something for everyone listening. Would you pay three thousand dollars for a week in Marcus's van, knowing it could be a bust? Let us know down below.
Marcus
I'd say yes, obviously.
Olivia
If you want Marcus's stories on paper, there's a free PDF in the video description. And for more guests like him, subscribe.
Marcus
Right, I'd better text my mum before she texts me.
Olivia
Tell her you're alive. Goodbye, all!
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