When writing my dissertation, these many years ago, I would often have some sort of disaster film on in the background. This is not so much because I enjoy listening to actors screaming violations of the laws of basic physics, geology and other STEM fields at the top of their lungs (though I do)[1] but because I tend to think of the genre as dark, absurdist comedy.
Stormchasing is the practice of following storm systems and storms in progress over land. Though a critical part of research into meteorology by providing on the ground data for comparison with remote radar, satellite and/or other mechanized sources, stormchasing has more recently become part of the journalistic and digital media landscape. Despite its importance, stormchasing media has not been studied as either a media form and industry in its own right or in regard to reception by its audience. This article will begin to redress this absence through a pilot study encompassing the analysis of stormchasing texts, industrial context(s) and audience reception.