Meet some real-life storm chasers this summer at Evergreen Drive-In

Ever wondered what storm chasers do and how they do it? Find out in July, by attending the Evergreen Drive-In Theater in East Huntingdon.

Hosted by PA Storm Trackerz, the drive-in will present “Meet The Storm Chasers Night” on Friday, July 19 and Saturday, July 20 — at the opening weekend of the “Twisters” movie sequel to the 1996 blockbuster hit.

PA Storm Trackerz is a family team of local storm chasers: Joshua Brinker, his mother and his father.

Brinker, 25, of Scottdale, said nine chase teams from the region and multiple states will be at the drive-in to show their equipment and chase vehicles ahead of the movie. The teams will explain to attendees how they chase storms and talk about what they’ve observed.

“(We will) explain safety and how people can get involved with reporting severe weather back to the National Weather Service,” he said.

Storm chasers coming to the meet-and-greet include:

• PA Storm Trackerz
• Landon Danovich from Delmont
• B. Dean Berry of Keystone Prime in Butler
• Justin Selig from Eastern Pennsylvania
• Logan Eschrich from Northern Pennsylvania
• Davey Jones and his mom Ann from Virginia
• Paigeyy from Missouri
• Jason Garrison from Ohio
• Alasdair Hicks of Allegheny Stormfront from West Virginia

After observing severe weather, Brinker said storm chasers usually alert the National Weather Service. However, storm chasing teams aren’t affiliated with the National Weather Service at all, he said.

“We actually travel across the country and document these storms,” Brinker said.

PA Storm Trackerz is working toward becoming a full-time operation, he said, but as of now, his family just chases storms when they are able. His family does a lot of livestreams on YouTube, he said.

“(I’ve) just been interested in it forever — one of my first words was lightning,” Brinker said. “I do it as much as I can with free time.”

As of now, he said 7:30 p.m. is when the gates will open at the drive-in both nights, and the new “Twister” movie will begin when night falls. It will show on one of the drive-in’s three screens.

Brinker encouraged those interested to arrive when the gates open.

“Get there early,” he said. “From what I’m hearing, it’s going to be a sellout.”

There’s actually a very large community of storm chasers, Brinker said, as there are hundreds of thousands across the world. Some will travel to different countries depending on the season, he said.

“Come out and meet us,” he said. “(See) how we actually do it.”