Top Storm-Chasing Destinations

US Great Plains

Twisters, cyclones and dust devils are all terms used to describe the highly destructive rotating columns of air that wreak havoc across the Great Plains. More than 500 people have been killed by tornadoes in 2011, making it the country’s deadliest year since 1953. That hasn’t stopped storm-chasing tours from popping up, like the Oklahoma-based Storm Chasing Adventure Tours, which has been chasing twisters since 1997. 

Tampa Bay, Florida

The lightning capital of the US is Tampa Bay, and it is no stranger to hurricanes and waterspouts-turned-tornadoes either. Though the state is a storm-chaser’s paradise, the storms last only a few hours, so you can expect brilliant sunsets after a cloudburst. The historic Vinoy Renaissance’s bay-view tower in downtown St Petersburg is an excellent spot to witness fast-moving, cumulonimbus clouds and lightning. 





Lausanne, Switzerland 

Regularly hit by Alpine storms and winds that whip down Switzerland’s Savoy Alps, the region’s moody skies, wuthering winds and dark clouds were the inspiration for Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, written here during a chilly June in 1816. The sixth-floor veranda at the Beau Rivage Palace offers dramatic panoramas of the storms that deliver chunky hail, theatrical smacks of thunder and hammering rains.

Bangkok, Thailand

Some tourists time their visits specifically to experience the deluge of monsoon season — the world’s fastest-falling rains. The 37-floor twin towers of Bangkok’s Anantara Sathorn offer balconies with extensive views of the capital city and the looming monsoon storm clouds moving in from the Gulf of Thailand.

Iceland

By day, geyser-seeking, glacial hiking, volcano biking and snow and ash cloud spotting will keep you occupied; but night delivers glimpses of spectacularly colourful thermospheric storms of the aurora borealis. Icelandic tour outfitter Elves and Trolls caters to climate geeks with activities like caving through the lava tunnels of Leiðarendi, wild geyser hunts, volcano hikes and of course watching the northern lights.


Source: BBC