Dobson spent seven days traveling with Extreme Tornado Tours through Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas and Nebraska in search of the perfect storm.
“It’s not for everyone,” he said.
Extreme Tornado Tours began in 2008 when founder Reed Timmer of Discovery Channel’s television show “Storm Chasers” created a way for enthusiasts to experience storm chasing.
Dobson said his interest in photography started as a child. He first held a camera at the age of four.
Since then, Dobson has traveled near and far documenting people, events, nature, landscapes and more with his camera lens.
Dobson’s storm chasers group traveled around 7,000 miles in a weeks’ time. He logged more than 650 photographs, including storm fronts, lightning, tennis ball sized hail, rainbows, clouds, hail fog, dust storms and finally, on the last day — tornadoes.
After several days of spectacular super cells, but no tornadoes, Dobson said he began to grow despondent. But on the last day, as the group moved into Nebraska, the atmosphere began to destabilize.
“Friday, things changed,” he said. “That afternoon we had our first encounter.”
Dobson said the group spent a fair amount of time watching the specialized radar screens and waiting. Most of the storms developed later in the day.
“It got dark and moody. The sky changed,” he said. “The anticipation was incredible.”
The group spotted three tornadoes on April 26, including one that was estimated to be a mile wide.
That day — per the National Weather Service — several significant, long-tracked tornadoes occurred in Nebraska and Iowa, destroying homes and businesses. One person died in the outbreak.
When up close and personal with a storm system capable of creating a tornado, storm chasers call it being “inside the bear’s cage.”
Dobson said it seems more frequent severe weather — including tornadoes — has been occurring, and it is not something that storm chasers take lightly.
“We can’t do anything about it, unless we can change the climate,” said Dobson. “We photograph. We have a fascination for severe weather and the power of nature.”
Dobson plans trips around his photography hobby. His adventures have included travel to India, climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and in 2016 he journeyed to Cuba with Pulitzer Prize winning news photographer Peter Turnley.
His work has been featured in the 2022 Ohio Division of Wildlife Wild Ohio calendar.
“I call that the May pin-up,” he said.
Dobson has booked a second Extreme Tornado Tour for 2025, this time traveling to a more northern area of the United States.
“I think a lot of people think I am crazy,” he said.
An avid weather enthusiast, Dobson said during extreme weather events at home he can usually be found on his back deck and not taking cover as is highly recommended.
“The problem with where we live is you can’t see long distance,” he said. “This is not a good watching place. I wouldn’t see a tornado until it is on top of me.”
This year, Ohio has experienced more than 40 confirmed tornado touchdowns including an EF-2 in Clark County on February 28 that destroyed numerous homes and buildings.
An outbreak of tornadoes happened again on Tuesday night in southwest Ohio, with five tornadoes in Warren County and at least three others, causing damage in at least five area counties.
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