'Don't chase storms in a vehicle that has a moon roof'

CENTRE WELLINGTON - Don't chase storms in a car with a moon roof.

That was one of the lighter rules of chasing bad weather given by Wellington County-based storm chaser Bailey Allard at The Storm Chaser Workshop hosted by Wellington County Emergency Management at the Wellington County Museum and Archives on Saturday.

Allard has been chasing tornadoes, thunderstorms and any other type of foul weather for years both north and south of the border.

A collection of her photos and videos are currently on display at the museum.

Allard, who lives in North Wellington County, made no bones about the fact that "thrill seeking" is her main reason for chasing storms.

"This is the big one for me. I just love the adrenaline of chasing Storms," said Allard, who often goes storm chasing locally with her mom in the passenger seat.

She said being close to danger - but not too close - is exciting and fun.

Allard said she also loves the social aspect.

"The best part about it is getting together with friends. We have a great time when we're chasing," she said

Storm chasers can also play a big role in public education and public awareness of bad weather. They're often the ones the first to report and inform others that a storm has become a tornado.

While there are no official qualifications for being a storm chaser, there are well established training courses and online networks aimed at teaching the skill.

"Nothing actually makes you qualified to be a storm chaser," Allard told the audience.

She heads to the United States often to chase storms because there are more of them down there.

"If there's even a chance of a thunderstorm up here I'll be out there chasing. You take every opportunity you can in Ontario," she said.

Storm chasing is inherently dangerous, but there are rules and precautions storm chasers use to make is safer.

"There really isn't a 'safe' way to chase storms because tornadoes are dangerous," Allard said.

One of the golden rules is to stay on the south east side of a storm and the the "golden rule" is that as soon as you lose your "situational awareness," get out of there.

"Surprisingly it's not the storm itself that's the biggest threat, it's being out on the road with other drivers," she said.

Three storm chasers were killed last month when their two cars collided while they were chasing a tornado. Allard knew them.

You can follow Allard on Twitter and on Facebook.

Saturday's storm chaser workshop also included Wellington County Museum and Archives program assistant Kyle Smith, who talked about and showed photos of some of the bad storm events over the years in Wellington County, including a tornado that hit Guelph in 1829 and almost "wiped Guelph off the map."

"It was probably the most severe disaster to ever hit Wellington County," Smith said.

The swath the tornado cut was reported as 100 yards wide and two miles long.

"If that happened today, hundreds of people would be killed," Smith said.

Geoff Coulson, who has been with Environment Canada for 33 years, also spoke about severe summer weather and emergency preparedness related to that.

Coulson said there are, on average, 80 to 100 severe events in Ontario from late April to early October. That includes an average of 12 tornadoes on average over the past 30 years.