Storm Chasing Tours With
| Owner-Lanny Dean |
Number of Tornadoes Seen: 282 Lanny Dean is one of the best STORMCHASING GUIDES in the market and is an 20 year STORM CHASING veteran! You may have seen Lanny on the hit show "TORNADO HUNTERS" that aired on TRUTV. He and his video have also been seen on THE WEATHER CHANNEL, STORM STORIES, CNN, ABC, GOOD MORNING AMERICA, TLC, THE DISCOVERY CHANNEL, MSNBC, NBC, REALTV, INSIDE EDITION, FOX NEWS NETWORK, as well as in many local Television markets throughout the United States and Canada. Lanny is also a former member of "THE OUTLAW CHASER'S" and has witnessed and filmed 282 tornadoes and many hurricanes to date. Lanny was awarded "Storm Chaser Of The Year" in 2005 and 2007. He is the only current STORMCHASING TOURS owner/operator to receive that award and hold it multiple years. Lanny holds a B.A. in Electronic TeleCommunication. Lanny recently worked for KJRH Channel 2 in Tulsa as their severe weather photographer. Prior to KJRH Lanny worked for KAKE 10 in Wichita, KS as a severe weather reporter and photographer. Lanny is an award winning photojournalist and reporter and recently received an Emmy nomination for his weather reporting. He has also won several SPJ awards for his photography, Lanny was awarded HM for his photojournalism by The Oklahoma Association Of Broadcaster for an investigative story he shot in 2008. He is trained in meteorology and is a Severe Storm Expert and one of the best weather forecasters chasing today. Lanny is the owner of Extreme Chase Tours and lead forecaster. |
| Co-Owner-Jeff Smith |
 Number of Tornadoes Seen: 35 Jeff Smith is co-owner of Extreme Chase Tours and a 15 year veteran stormchaser. Jeff brings this 15 plus years of storm spotting and storm chasing experience to the team in order to help provide you the best storm chase tour experience on the planet. Jeff's obsession with weather began when he was five years old as an F-3 tornado was ravaging the East side of Tulsa OK in December, 1975. He and his family watched the tornado from his bedroom window tear up the city. Since that day, Jeff has had a passion for witnessing Mother Nature's fury wherever it may take him. In elementary school, Jeff's teachers grew concerned because he was always drawing different tornadoes. Those stunts actually got his parents several phone calls from school...often resulting in a sore backside :) Jeff has seen many tornadoes. One of the most notable was on March 12, 2006 where he and chase partner TJ caught rare footage of the after dark F-3 Delaware Co. Oklahoma tornado. When not on tour Jeff takes on the duty of nowcaster. He has nowcasted for several well known chasers including co-owner Lanny Dean. Jeff's radar interpretation skills are impeccable and he can get you to the storm of the day! Jeff is a devout Christian. Without being overbearing he shares God's love with those around him. He became a Christian a little more than 10 years ago and has been called to youth ministry. Currently he is the Children and Youth Director of New Life Baptist Church in Claremore, Oklahoma. He also heads up Mission of Compassion, a disaster relief ministry that helps those that have been affected by natural disasters. For more info please see: www.missionofcompassion.com Jeff currently chases for KJRH Channel 2 in Tulsa Oklahoma where he helps provide ground truth reports and warnings to the public |
| Chad Berryhill-Lead guide |
Number Of Tornadoes Seen 21 Chad Berryhill has lived in Oklahoma all his life and has seen all kinds of severe weather, but his love for extreme weather started after he witnessed the 1991 Billings/Red Rock OK, F-4 tornado live on TV. That event sparked a deep interest in Chad to study and learn more about severe weather and tornadoes. Chad currently attends Oklahoma State University and majors in Geography. He also holds an Associates Degree in Applied Science. He has been trained in meteorology and has a specialty in forecasting and nowcasting severe weather. Chad also pulls double duty as a tour guide/driver and weather forecaster and will be helping during our "Remote Tours" His hobbies are flying, scuba diving, photography, hunting, fishing, and just being outdoors. He eats just about anything, so hide your snacks. If you have Mike & Ikes, he will be your best friend!! |
| Laura Dean-Radar/Tech Support |
 Number of Tornadoes Seen: 3 Laura Dean is our lead technical support advisor and the wife of Lanny. She will be giving tactical support to us in the field during your STORMCHASING TOURS should we need it. Laura's specialty is radar support and radar interpretation. She is also trained in operational meteorology. Laura is a 9 year veteran storm chaser and has seen he fair share of severe weather. Laura will also help in scheduling your tour dates and other tour related duties. Laura also has a love for severe weather but really likes tornadoes, her first tornado was the infamous Throckmorton TX, F-4 where she and Lanny filmed the tornado from very close range! |
| Jill Gilardi-Lead Meteorologist |
 Number of Tornadoes Seen: 4
Currently Jill chases for KOLR10 & KSFX news in the Mobile Weather Lab which is a fully equipped chase vehicle whenever storms are threatening the Ozarks. The most exciting experience so far that she has had with Extreme Chase Tours was on May 19th, 2010, when she and Lead Guide, Chad Berryhill, took a guest on his first tornado tour and intercepted a massive supercell near Hennessey Oklahaoma that produced a very large tornado and many funnels. To learn more about Jill, feel free to email her at jgilardi@kolr10.com or find her on facebook at Jill Gilardi kolr ksfx. |
| Jim Sellars-Lead Nowcaster |
Number of Tornadoes Seen: A few Jim Sellars is a long time veteran of the weather world and has spent over 35 years spotting, chasing and enjoying severe weather. Jim has seen tornadoes spawned by Hurricane Alicia in 1983, the Pierce City MO tornado of 2003 and numerous other severe weather events across the Midwest. Like most recreational chasers raising a family, Jim was only able to chase a few times a year but got his money's worth. Jim has been involved with the SKYWARN program for over 15 years and currently is the the National Weather Service Regional SKYWARN Coordinator for Southwest Missouri. Jim made a presentation on Emergency Communications and Preparedness at the National Severe Weather Workshop in 2004. He has assisted with synoptic and mesoscale forecasts for high profile chasers and chase groups such as Extreme Chase Tours owner, Lanny Dean as well as The Outlaw Chasers and many others. Recently Jim assisted media teams involved with the Vortex 2 Project as well as helping with Missouri State University's storm class as it chased the Midwest. Jim was trained on Doppler radar in classes led by the pioneers that took it from the drawing board to operational reality. Jim is a member of the AMERICAN METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY and NATIONAL WEATHER ASSOCIATION and has been a "HAM" radio operator for many years. He currently holds a General Class license with a call sign of N0UAM and utilizes it for communication during severe weather. He has many interests including electronics, photography, ham radio, football, baseball, cooking and many others. You may hear Jim on your tour during a phone call updating us on the severe weather potential as needed. Feel free to say hi! |
| Brian DePriest-Logistics/Security |
 Number Of Tornadoes Seen: 28 Brian DePriest is a 14 year storm veteran with over 17 years of personal and event security experience....Brian has Provided personal/event security for some of the most popular musicians, actors and entertainers of the past 17 years such as the Rap artist Gillette, Wild Orchid, No Mercy, Country music star Chris Cagle and WWE/WCW superstars Goldberg and "the BIG SHOW" to name a few. Brian hosted a special "Model" tour in the Texas Panhandle in 2010 that bagged 3 tornadoes! Brian is a professional driver in the real world with hundreds of thousands of accident free miles under his belt. Brian's ride is a "tricked out" Ford F-350 crew cab 4x4 with all the bells and whistles including streaming audio/video, data access and HAM/scanner radios. Brian does the heavy hauling for ECT as well as security for our Celebrity and Executive Clients. Brian assisted in our Media and Production tour logistics during the 2010 chase season and has worked behind the scenes with us for many years. |
| JD Stewart-Driver |
Number of Tornadoes Seen: 95 JD Stewart is our one of our drivers and electronics guru. He is not only one of the best drivers chasing today but he also has the ability and cool level head to keep you safe when driving in close range of a tornado or severe weather. JD is a 25 year veteran storm chaser and has personally seen 95 tornadoes to date. He has had a life long passion for severe weather and has been a storm chaser working for KOTV6 in Tulsa, OK for many years. His video has been seen across the nation and he was featured in a Weather Channel Storm Stories about the Mulvane, KS tornado. JD has a BA in Political Science and an udergraduate in History, he has also been trained in storm structure and has utilized SKYWARN for over 15 years to help warn the public of severe weather. JD also has a love for acting and has showcased his talents in many motion screen movies including the latest, THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMINE BUTTON (2008) JD also enjoys electronics and "ham radio" and has been a radio operator for many years. In addition to being your tour driver, JD also helps with all of our electronic equipment while on tour as well as technical support. |
| T.J. Smith-Radar Support/Driver |
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We are a full STORMCHASING TOUR AND TORNADO TOURS company. We offer many packaged deals to take you on the best STORMCHASING TOUR possible. Our TORNADO GUIDES are some of the best in the industry. Looking for stock video?
Extreme Chase Tours has filmed over 400 tornadoes to date and has a very large stock of severe and unusual weather including hurricanes, tornadoes, hail, lightning, flooding and the like.
Have an extended vacation? No problem! We book week long STORMCHASING TOURS and if you need or want we can book long tours.
Maybe you only have a few days on your vacation, no problem! We also book 1 to 15 day STORMCHASING VACATIONS AND TORNADO TOURS
Come see why we were voted storm chasers of the year!