Storm chasers gather for 'Twisters' premiere, meet-and-greet at Evergreen Drive-In

Countless cars lined up outside of the Evergreen Drive-In Theater in East Huntingdon Friday night for the “Twisters” movie premiere and “Meet The Storm Chasers Night.”

“Twisters” is the movie sequel to the 1996 blockbuster hit, “Twister.” Starring Glen Powell, Daisy Edgar-Jones and Anthony Ramos, the sequel scored a 79% on Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer, which is significantly higher than the original movie’s score of 63%.

Joe Warren, owner of the Evergreen Drive-In Theater, was speechless by the large crowd.

“It was unexpected that people were here this early,” he said.

Hosted by PA Storm Trackerz, a family team of local storm chasers — Joshua Brinker, his mother and his father — the event at the drive-in allowed attendees to meet real-life storm chasers.

Brinker, 26, of Scottdale, said nine chase teams from the region and multiple states were at the drive-in to show their equipment and chase vehicles ahead of the movie. The teams explained to attendees how they chase storms and talk about what they’ve observed.

“I kinda had a feeling it was gonna be pretty crazy, but I didn’t think it was gonna be 40, 50, 60 cars lined up an hour before gates even opened,” he said.

The Evergreen Drive-In Theater’s box office opened early just to get cars off the road. “Twisters” is being shown on Screen #1 and #3 at the drive-in, according to its website.

“It means a lot because there is a lot of storm chasers out there, but we don’t know how many people actually enjoy us,” he said. “It’s really cool to see. … These people are curious about weather.”

Appeal of chasing

For Jason Garrison, who said he’s been into weather since he was around 10 years old, storm chasing is about raising public awareness.

“When other kids were watching cartoons and stuff like that, I was watching The Weather Channel,” he said. “We want people to know what they need to do in a situation.”

While some people are able to be storm chasers as their full-time job, Garrison, 39, of Steubenville, Ohio, said he does it on the side for fun.

“I just enjoy being around other chasers — I like seeing the storms,” he said. “There’s something about nature and what it does … it just gives you a rush like you’ve never had.”

Much of what Garrison has packed in his car is safety gear, like lights, medical kits and various tools — even a chainsaw, which helps with cutting trees that have fallen in the road or if somebody is trapped inside their car, he said.

“If a tornado just came through a town, I would throw on my rain suit, my high visibility stuff,” he said. “I’ve got different things you need to get in and out of the houses.”

Bryce Shelton, with Palmetto Chaser,s has been storm chasing for eight years — and he does it full time.

Shelton, 23, of Charleston, S. C., is able to monetize storm chasing by selling videos and livestreams to media and news outlets like NBC, Fox and The Weather Channel.

He said he became interested in 2006, when an EF3 tornado missed his house by one house when he was living in Nashville, Tenn.

“After that, I was just hooked on it,” Shelton said.

B. Dean Berry, of Keystone Prime, is a local storm chaser from Center Township, Butler County. He also works full time.

“They’ve got to get that footage from somewhere,” Berry, 43, said of the large news stations, “and they get it from people like us.”

He started when he was a little kid after witnessing a tornado strike in front of him in Richmond, Va. At 15 years old, he started storm chasing with his cousin on a bicycle until he got his driver’s license. And about six years ago, he was able to monetize storm chasing.

“This is pretty much an all-star cast here,” Berry said of the drive-in event. “If you’re talking about regional storm chasers and weather personalities, these are them.”

However, storm chasing can be “a lot,” Shelton said, as storm chasers have to think about target areas, how to stay safe, possible exit routes and what will happen the following day.

“Usually, if you have tornadoes one day, you’re gonna have tornadoes the next day, too — and that’s the hardest part,” Shelton said.

Storm chaser community

In the Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia area, Garrison said storm chasing is becoming more popular. He credits social media with helping spread the word, as people are able to connect easily online.

“It’s nice, though, because we’re all becoming one big community,” he said.

When learning how to become a storm chaser, Garrison said he took classes online and has watched “tons” of how-to videos of other storm chasers out on the field. He said he’s able to learn more as he’s experienced more storm chasing as well.

With the release of the new “Twisters” movie, Shelton said he expects that more people will become interested.

“But, it is very dangerous,” he said. “Know what you’re doing before you go out there — not when you’re underneath a tornado.”

Despite safety concerns, Shelton said he likes the adrenaline aspect of storm chasing.

“I know how to stay safe, but I do like to get close,” he said.

Though storm chasing is on the rise, the storm chasers agreed that “storm chaser convergence” is becoming somewhat of a problem.

“It’s where a lot of chasers are there for a storm and they back up the roads and nobody can get around,” Garrison said. “It’s amazing how many people there are — there’s thousand of chasers across the U.S.”

Brinker, who is also a custodial janitor at the new Amazon warehouse in New Stanton and a volunteer fireman, said he’s an “adrenaline person.” The original “Twister” is his favorite movie, and he said it’s what got him into storm chasing.

He’s experienced storm chaser convergence before.

“We were on a road that was double-stacked with chasers — on a two-lane back road — pulled over everywhere watching the storm produce a tornado,” Brinker said.

For the last two years, Brinker and his family, PA Storm Trackerz, have taken what’s called a “chase-cation,” or a vacation meant for storm chasing, which is typical in the community, he said.

“They take that anywhere from end of April to end of May — that’s what they call peak season,” Brinker said. “That’s their whole vacation for all year.”

Though a “chase-cation” isn’t very relaxing, he said he doesn’t have regrets about not taking a typical vacation.

“Once you do it, you never can quit,” he said of storm chasing.