Biography of Warren Faidley

The sky between Johnson and Richfield turned a frightening green, and I accepted that there would be no swift escape. The fun of chasing, the jokes and the conversation vanished. We were facing the stark reality of our pursuits. Survival was now the issue. To the east lay a landscape of wheat fields flowing like a white-capped ocean. But this route offered no escape, for the fields were lined with only a handful of tractor access roads that would soon turn to thick mud. Behind us, and to the west, was the vivid bolts of lightning, giant hail stones and the oncoming tornado. No shelter anywhere. Our only escape was due south, where the sun smiled pleasantly in the distance."
From Warren Faidley's best-selling Storm Chaser.

The Real Deal

In order to understand and appreciate Warren's unique occupation, it is important to clarify the difference between what Warren does as a fulltime, professional occupation, and the often reckless, part-time chasers often featured on television and in the media.

Warren's adventures and close calls are genuine, real life occurrences. His dramatic encounters are naturally occurring, inseparable elements of his occupation. His work-related adventures are not "stunts" where individuals often go to great lengths to "purposely" place themselves in unnecessary dangerous situations to create a "sellable" product. In addition, Warren pursues all forms of severe weather and natural disasters as a fulltime occupation. This is in stark contrast to the majority of "TV" chasers who only chase a few selected storms.

(Right) Warren's unique character is often used for commercials, advertising, and educational / safety projects

Extreme Weather Adventurer

Warren Faidley began his career in the late 1980's as the world's first, full-time storm chasing journalist and extreme weather adventurer. Since then, he has forged a unique career as an award winning journalist, photographer, cinematographer, author and international lecturer. With over 20 years, hands-on experience of outwitting even the most violent of storms, he has become one of the nation's leading, hands-on experts on storm safety and survival. His often dramatic images and footage have been used around the world in countless productions and publications.

You have likely seen Warren on news programs like CBS's Early Show, The BBC, The O'Reilly Factor, CNN and Fox "Breaking" News reporting on severe weather and discussing his exploits. Warren is one of the few individuals on earth who has experienced firsthand both an F-5 tornado and a category 5 hurricane's 155 mph winds (Andrew 1992).

His adventurous anecdotes are filled with peril and sometimes -- a dry sense of humor. "After 20 years of this," sh-- happens," Faidley quips. Stories written about him, lectures, TV shows and his diaries unleash a array of work place hazards, including: flash floods, firestorms, incapacitating cold, baseball-sized hailstones, food poisoning, rogue waves, lightning jolts, bullets, rock-slides, enraged farmers with rusty pitchforks, reptiles, sinkholes and Mad-Max-like road rage.

Warren's amazing career began as a toddler when he developed a "strong fascination with scary weather." At age 12 his curiosities nearly killed him was swept away by a flash flood. After recovering from the near drowning -- he moved on to riding his bicycle into the heart of dust devils. (Small, tornado-like desert whirlwinds). His very first tornado chase in 1987 landed him in a small west Texas town that had been swept away by a violent tornado. His professional storm chasing career was launched after he took an amazing photograph of lightning hitting a light pole in an oil and gasoline tank farm. The shot nearly cost him his life. The image was published in Life Magazine who billed him as a "Storm Chaser." Warren's "dust to gold" success story is filled with countless anecdotes of danger, adventure, romance and drama -- and along the way, his journeys have produced some of the most breathtaking images ever captured on film and video.

Foraging through storm surges and flying debris, his stunning images of Hurricane Andrew are some of the only known still pictures of the Category 5 hurricane (in progress) as it slammed into south Florida in 1992. He was the first cinematographer ever to capture a tornado on 35mm motion picture film. (McLean, Texas, June 1997). Warren was an initial motion picture consultant for Twister. In 2005 Warren rode out hurricane Katrina along the Gulf Coast and intercepted hurricanes Ike and Gustav in 2008.

In the late 1990's Warren designed and built the world's first "Fortified Storm Intercept Vehicle." The "Archangel" was a SUV designed to intercept and film severe weather and tornadoes. In late May of 2004 Warren Faidley and a team member unknowingly penetrated a weak F-O tornado near Vega, Texas, becoming the first chasers ever to drive a storm-resistant vehicle into a tornado. (No vehicle can actually survive a violent tornado).

Warren has been featured in countless television specials including National Geographic Explorer, The BBC, The O'Reilly Factor and The Weather Channel. He was recently featured on Discovery Channel 's HD Theater "Risk Takers" special. His images and footage have been used by diversified clientele including Paul McCartney, NASA, MTV, The New York Times, MTV, The NFL, Sheryl Crow, Life and Time Magazines, NASCAR and USA Today. He is an international lecturer on severe weather, his adventures and extreme weather/disaster survival.

Warren is the founder and Chairman of the Storm Angel^TM Foundation, an organization devoted to educating and assisting children who are victims of severe weather. He has received numerous awards for his photography, journalism, educational and public service contributions, including certificates from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and a William Randolph Hearst Foundation Journalism Award. He has written two books and collaborated on over 50 literary projects, including numerous magazine articles, textbooks and children's books. Warren is an EMT-B and a pilot.

Warren has had many "close calls" during his many years of storm chasing. In fact, the first question that many people ask Warren when they meet him is about "close calls." Warren is quick to point out that "close calls" are not something to "brag about." Warren says, "In some cases my early close calls were the result of inexperience. Even now days, with a wealth of experience and technology there are still some events you simply cannot separate from the responsible business of pursuing storms."

Here a few of Warren's more unsettling and interesting moments:

September 2004, Juno Beach, Florida. (Hurricane Ivan). Warren narrowly averted "the grasp of death" along a boardwalk when a sinkhole suddenly opened under him. His escape was made by
         by quickly leaping onto a chain-link fence and "clinging on like a cat" -- as the ground beneath his
         feet fell into "an abyss."

May, 2000, Western Oklahoma: A pack of 'frothy-mouthed," wild dogs forced him onto the hood of his chase vehicle while he parked along a highway "taking a restroom break."

October, 1988, Tucson, Arizona: He is jolted by a near-by lightning strike and lifted off the ground. Stunned, he still managed to photograph the lightning bolt hitting a light pole less than
         400 feet away!

February, 1998, Ventura, California: A mudslide sends a "car-sized" boulder down a hill missing his car by few feet.

May, 2001, Littlefield, TX. Warren drives his "fortified" chase vehicle into an "obviously weak" tornado and thus become the first chaser to maneuvered a "tornado vehicle" into a
         tornado.

April 1991, central Oklahoma: Two "crazy" farmers, "armed with rusty pitchforks," chased Warren from the side of the road, claiming he was "tearing up 'their' ditch." (A county road!)