The Beauty of Chasing Storms


"Arm of God," by Mitch Dobrowner. Taken in Galatia, Kansas in July 2009.
Mitch Dobrowner鈥檚 no typical storm chaser. For the past year and a half, he鈥檚 been following Mother Nature鈥檚 moods鈥攁nd the extreme weather that follows鈥攖hen capturing these natural phenomena with his camera. Eight of his awe-inspiring images appear in the , now available online.
 
With the help of an expert guide, Dobrowner has had what senior editor Julie Leibach describes as a front-row seat to the bluster, chasing severe weather across the Great Plains. His favorites are supercells, huge thunderstorms distinctive in part for their persistence. 鈥淸Supercells] are like these living things,鈥 he says. 鈥淭hey do everything they can possibly do to stay alive. And every one鈥檚 very different.鈥
 
The science behind these storms is fascinating, too. 鈥淎s the supercell travels, it can devour other burgeoning storms in its path, gaining steam,鈥 Leibach writes. 鈥淏y deviating from the primary air current, this billowy beast can elude death for hours, avoiding what often quickly kills a garden-variety thunderstorm: its own cool precipitation.鈥
 
Check out the rest of Dobrowner鈥檚 photos . Don鈥檛 miss the rest of the November-December issue, which includes a by David Schloss, a by Mel White, as well as who signed up with 爆料公社 to help after the Deepwater Horizon spill, plus much more!