Female storm chasers

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It is obvious from documentaries and through reading websites that storm chasing is dominated by male storm chasers. It is surprising to a certain extent given that there are no human physical barriers or requirements that could explain such domination which seems to be approximately a 90% to 10% breakdown.

Furthermore, In my experience, there are more females who have an interest in severe thunderstorms than most think. Perhaps, because they are often involved in family upbringing, or for fear of being ridiculed by other females, they hide their interest. Perhaps it was seen as a man’s thing to do. Slowly, but surely, more females are either reporting severe storms, taking up discussion in severe weather and in some case chasing storms themselves. In my opinion, despite the male domination, there is no real advantage of males over females in the quest to storm chase – it relies more on skill, knowledge and understanding of severe weather. Seeing that a more even spread of photographers exist and drivers on the road, I think it is more public acceptance and perception that can only explain this overwhelming bias. And let’s face it, anyone can build a website these days to place those precious photographs and stories online.

Nowadays, you see females mixed in with males on storm chases or in some cases on their own. After all, just like any other sport or activity, storm chasing is a good social outing and often is a fun day out ending with an evening meal.