Awe-Inspiring Skies, Captured by an Extreme Storm Chaser
BY JAKOB SCHILLER
The incredible storm photos in Mike Hollingshead’s portfolio include tornadoes that seem to come down right in front of him, epic lightning and apocalyptic swirling clouds. He appears to be blessed (or cursed?) when it comes to finding the most extreme weather in America’s heartland. But while luck is certainly part of it, he says it’s mostly just a lot of hard work and thousands and thousands of miles of driving.
“Persistence pays off, at least some of the time,” says Hollingshead, 37, who lives in Blair, Nebraska.
There are years when things click and he comes away with a whole batch of mind-boggling work. But then there are years like 2013, when Hollingshead worked himself to exhaustion, relied on the very best data and still came away with almost nothing. All told, Hollingshead says he probably drives 20,000 miles a year in his Mitsubishi Eclipse.
“I’ve driven eight hours only to get out there and have nothing happen,” he says. “And then all I have in front of me is eight more hours of driving to get home because I don’t want to waste money on a hotel.”
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http://www.wired.com/rawfile/2014/01/storms/?mbid=synd_digg#slide-id-121061:full
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