Today we’d like to introduce you to David Baxter III.
Hi David, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I am a Veteran Storm Chaser and Professional Photographer! My story all began when I was a teenager working my 1st job in Hilliard, Ohio. I was always fascinated with the weather as a kid growing up and loved watching storms roll through the area. My father and I would almost always sit on the front porch during a storm to see the chaos unfold. It was most certainly my favorite thing to do. I would sit outside for hours watching the weather almost every day. When I was working my high school job, the moment that basically set me on the path I am at today occurred. While on a lunch break in the evening at work, I was sitting in my vehicle enjoying the storm that was moving into the area. I planned my lunch around when the storm front was going to arrive. While sitting with my windows down, listening to the distant thunder and rain begin, A rogue and massive lightning bolt struck DIRECTLY next to my car!!! The bolt landed about 10-20ft away and was so loud that it blew out my left eardrum, which left me with permanent hearing loss in my left ear. That moment blew my mind on what the weather was capable of and set me on the path that I am still on today.
12 Years later, I have become a well-respected storm chaser and professional photographer/time-lapser. It was certainly not an easy path though, however! It wasn’t until about 2015 or so that I really got a grasp on how to forecast where storms would be and be able to chase them. Living in Ohio during that time was incredibly difficult to pursue my passion as it was over a thousand miles away from the heart of Tornado Alley, which has the biggest storms. I would chase about 2-3 weeks a year only as that’s all I could afford with being in Ohio and other College commitments I had. After several years of missing out on big opportunities, I finally made the decision to leave Ohio and relocate to Colorado. This opened up so many avenues for me to pursue weather nearly full-time. Since 2019, when I made that move, I have seen some of the craziest weather that exists! I chase full-time year-round living out here in Colorado, as we get extreme weather every season!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
There have been several times in my career that were very challenging, including this year 2023. Storm chasing is not an easy hobby or skill by any means. It requires tons of knowledge about weather and forecasting. It’s not as easy as one thinks to pick out a specific storm in an exact location and whether or not it will produce a tornado. Also, storm chasing is a VERY PRICY hobby/job, especially the last year or two as costs continue to get higher and higher. You have to have equipment that is quite pricey sometimes to keep yourself safe while you are out chasing under these storms. I never had all these things while starting out, which made finding and tracking these storms harder for me. Storm chasing is also very rough on vehicles. I drive sometimes over 50,000 miles in a season which is a lot of maintenance costs for your vehicle. This year, 2023, has been the most challenging in terms of budget/costs due to car repairs, high costs, and other gear that decided to fail after years of wear and tear. Storm chasing is very rough on lots of things, especially cameras, laptops, and streaming equipment, due to the elements of being on the road in the weather. So that’s just a small tidbit into the many challenges I have faced and continue to face every day.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
When I’m not storm chasing, I am a full-time Distribution Supervisor for Otter Products in Colorado. I work a weekend schedule which allows me to chase four days a week.
I am also a media stringer for Storm Chasing Video in which I use them to distribute any weather footage I capture all year long. This helps me save extra for the storm season!
How do you define success?
I define success by the quality of my photography, time-lapses, and videos that I put out to the world. I feel more successful when my work gets recognized by both the weather community and in general. My ultimate goal would be to make enough income to just pursue this hobby of mine full-time.
I also feel successful/define success when I am able to analyze a weather system and forecast a target that verifies. It is incredibly rewarding to me when you spend days looking over weather data and when that very storm develops right where you forecasted it would, and you’re able to document it fully, it’s an incredible experience.
Pricing:
- Nikon Cameras/Lenses – $10,000 +
- Sony Video Equipment – $3,000
- Weather Data/Mobile Data – $300/mo
- Photo Prints $20-$500 + S/H
- Seeing a Tornado – Priceless!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.twitch.tv/coloradoweathernut
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coloradoweathernut/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/david.y.baxter3
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ColoradoWXNut
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3IZr9ZbFOhd2m3AFvx0_6w
- Other: https://www.etsy.com/shop/ColoradoWeatherNut?ref=seller-platform-mcnav
Image Credits
David Baxter III
