Pro storm chaser puts it all on the line to stand dangerously close to deadly tornadoes

A professional storm chaser risks his life to stand just meters away from the eye of tornadoes.

Jordan Hall, 28, loved the film Twister growing up, and would watch the show Storm Chasers with his dad, Courtney Hall, 48, after he got home from middle school.

When he went to college to study criminal justice, Jordan started storm chasing as a hobby and would often skip class to hunt down a tornado – before becoming a full time storm chaser in 2021.

Since then Jordan has been criss-crossing the globe, putting himself in the path of nature’s most extreme storms.

In December 2021, he tracked the deadly tornado outbreak that tore through Arkansas, Kentucky, Illinois and Missouri – claiming 89 lives.

More recently, Jordan flew to the Philippines, where he was caught in the eye of Tropical Storm Fung-wong.

On average, Jordan chases between 100 and 180 storms each year, capturing jaw-dropping footage from the United States to Mexico, Taiwan, Bermuda, Japan and the Philippines.

Jordan, a storm chaser from Norman, Oklahoma, said: “I get to see Mother Nature in its purest form.

“To see a storm is so dangerous and so beautiful at the same time – you never know what you are going to get.

“It is all about the unknown. One day, you can go hunting for tornadoes and see none.

“Then one day you can go out with no intention of finding one, and then you come across the biggest one you’ve ever seen.”

Jordan has been fascinated with storms since he was a child. Growing up, his favorite film was Twister.

Then, in middle school, he would watch Storm Chasers with his dad when he got home.

Jordan said: “I have always had a fascination with severe weather events. I went to high school in eastern Montana and would go out chasing the storm.

“I grew up watching Twister as a kid, and I was obsessed with it.

“In middle school, Storm Chasers came out, and I grew up watching that with my dad.”

During college, Jordan’s fascination with storm chasing persisted, and he would even skip class to go chase storms.

In the fall of 2021, Jordan turned storm chasing into his full-time job – estimating he sees 100 to 180 storms a year.

Jordan said: “On December 10, 2021, I chased the tornado outbreak that spawned in Arkansas and made its way through to Kentucky.

“In 2023, I saw the most violent but gorgeous tornadoes I have ever seen in Rolling Fork, Mississippi. It was this big, tall pipe with no rain around it.

“It was shape shifting, it was one of the most beautiful and terrifying things I have ever seen in my life.”

Jordan added: “I have been put in some very tricky situations where I have feared for my life a few times.

“Last year, I was a little aggressive in my chasing because I hadn’t seen a tornado in months.

“I sat in one spot for too long, and by the time I decided to move, my escape route wasn’t as long as I thought.

“I got hit by the tornado, the car was shaking as I was driving through.”

Jordan’s storm chasing has taken him around the world to Taiwan, Bermuda, Japan and the Philippines.

Recently, he was even able to take his 13-year-old brother on his first tornado chase.

Jordan said: “This year I was able to get my little brother out on his first tornado.

“I was able to take him on his first-ever storm chase.

“My family support me a lot, my dad is my biggest supporter, but my grandma is always scared of me chasing.”