Stronger, Wetter, Slower, Meaner
Sometimes people can trace their career choice back to a memorable event. For me it was September 5th, 1979. After making landfall in Georgia a day earlier, Hurricane David had weakened to a tropical storm, and was racing through Maryland, where I grew up. I was struck by how unfamiliar it all was, with its strangely warm windiness, and fast-moving clouds painted with striations of dark and light. I had been bitten by the tropical bug, and ever since I've been a student of hurricanes, always looking to learn more about this remarkable, wildly varied phenomenon. Like many I'm fascinated by the photos and videos that give us a sense of the power and scales of movement within these storms. Once in a while you come across something that stops you in your tracks. Storm chasers have often referred to getting into the eye of a hurricane — and particularly one that is discernible from the ground — as the "holy grail" of chasing. It's extremely hard to do, because you ha...