UNCG senior pursues dream as storm chaser

WXII12.COM. CHRISTINE: TONIGHT WE’RE HEARING FROM A UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA-GREENSBORO STUDENT WHO SPENT THE SUMMER STORM CHASING ACROSS THE COUNTRY. WXII’S JUSTIN SHRAIR SPOKE THWI HIM ABOUT HIS JOURNEY AND HOW HE MADE HIS DREAM OF CHASING WEATHER COME TRU JUST: IT ALL STARTED IN 2005 WHEN THOMAS KNEPSHIELD WITNESSED JUST HOW POWERFUL HURRICANE KATRINA WAS. THOSE PICTURES AND VIDEOS THAT WE ALL REMEMBER PUSHED HIM TO FOLLOW HIS DREAM. THESE ARE PHOTOS TAKEN BY SENIOR UNCG STUDENT THOMAS KNEPSHIELD DURING HIS JOURNEY ACROSS THE UNTIED STATES, WHERE HE TOOKN I THE AMAZING SCENERY AND ALSO CHASED STORMS ALONG THE WAY OVER THE SUMMER. HIS FIRST CHASE, HE SAYS, WAS IN TEXAS. >> IT WAS A MODERATE DAY FOR THE SBC AND THERE WAS THIS BEAUTIFUL SUPERCELL THAT POPPED UP THAT WAS A MOTHERSHIP SUPERCELL TTHA LOOKED LIKE A BELL, AND I CHASED IT FROM WHEN IT FIRST STARTEASD A LITTLE CLOUD ALL THE WAY UNTIL IT WAS DARK. JUSTIN: IN COLORADO, HE SAYHES SAW MULTIPLE TORNADOS. >>FT AER THAT, IN BETWEEN LIKE PLAINS CHASING AND ARIZONA CHASING, I TOOK A ROAD TRIP AND DROVE THROUGH 13 NATIONAL PARKS ON MY 24 STATE JOURNEY, AND I MADE IT ALL THE WAY TO WASHINGTON. JUSTIN: DURING HIS TRAVELS, HE LIVED OUT OF HIS CAR WITH AN AIR MATTRESS AND A SLEEPING BAG. BUT HOW DID KNEPSHIELD, WHO IS STUDYING COMPUTER SCIENCE, PREPARE HIMSELF TO CSEHA WEATHER? HE SAYS FOR VESERAL YEARS BEFORE HE LEFT, HE STUDIED WEATHER MODELS AND RADAR. >> I WOULD LOOKP U WEAERTH MODELS AND PINPOINT A SPOT WHERE I THINK SOMETHING WILL FORM THERE SO THEN I WOULD SIT THEER AND WATCH THE AREA THE WHOLE DAY AND HOPE THAT SOMETHING LIKE A SUPERCELL WILL POP UP AND MOVE THROUGH THERE, AND I DID TTHA FOR A COUPLE YEARS. JUSTIN: KNEPSHIELD SAYS CHASING WEATHER WAS A DREAM COME TRUE FOR HIM AND SAYS HIS ADVICE FOR OTHERS WHO WANT TO EXPERIENCE EVERYTNGHI MOTHER NATURE HAS TO OFFER IS TO MAKE SURE YOU ARE READY AND TRAIN UP. >> JUST DON’T GO OUT AND WITHOUT KNOWING ANYTHING. I WAITED FOR 12 YEARS. I WAITED UNTIL I FELT LIKE I WAS READY AND EDUCATED ENOUGH AND I WE NT OUT AND DID IT. IT TAKES A LOT OF COURAGE TO DO IT. JUSTIN: KNEPSHIELD SAYS HIS NEXT STEP IS TO GET A DEGREINE METEOROLOGY. CHRI

A UNCG student recently returned from chasing all kinds of storms throughout parts of the U.S.It all started in 2005 when Thomas Knepshield witnessed just how powerful Hurricane Katrina was. Those pictures and videos that we all remember pushed him to follow his dream. Knepshield, a senior UNCG student, took photos and video during his journey across the United States, where he took in the amazing scenery and also chased storms along the way over the summer. His first chase, he said, was in Texas.“There was this beautiful supercell that popped up that was a mothership supercell that looked like a bell and I chased it from when it first started as a little cloud all the way until it was dark,” he said.In Colorado, he said he saw three tornados. “After that, in between like Plains chasing and Arizona chasing, I took a road trip and drove through 13 national parks on my 24-state journey and I made it all the way to Washington,” he said.During his travels, he lived out of his car with an air mattress and a sleeping bag. But how did Knepshield, who is studying computer science, prepare himself to chase weather? He said for several years before he left, he studied weather models and radar. “I will look up weather models everything and pinpoint a spot where I think something will form there so then I would sit there and watch the area the whole day and hope that something like a supercell will pop up and move through there and I did that for a couple years,” he said.Knepshield said chasing weather was a dream come true for him and said his advice for others who want to experience everything mother nature has to offer, is to make sure you are ready and train up. “Just don’t go out and without not knowing anything, like I waited from when I really wanted to go out in 2010 until now — that was 12 years. Now I feel like I was ready. I was educated enough and I just went out and did it, it takes a lot of courage to go out and do it,” he said. Knepshield said his next step is to get a degree in meteorology.

GREENSBORO, N.C. —

A UNCG student recently returned from chasing all kinds of storms throughout parts of the U.S.

It all started in 2005 when Thomas Knepshield witnessed just how powerful Hurricane Katrina was. Those pictures and videos that we all remember pushed him to follow his dream.

Knepshield, a senior UNCG student, took photos and video during his journey across the United States, where he took in the amazing scenery and also chased storms along the way over the summer. His first chase, he said, was in Texas.

“There was this beautiful supercell that popped up that was a mothership supercell that looked like a bell and I chased it from when it first started as a little cloud all the way until it was dark,” he said.

In Colorado, he said he saw three tornados.

“After that, in between like Plains chasing and Arizona chasing, I took a road trip and drove through 13 national parks on my 24-state journey and I made it all the way to Washington,” he said.

During his travels, he lived out of his car with an air mattress and a sleeping bag. But how did Knepshield, who is studying computer science, prepare himself to chase weather? He said for several years before he left, he studied weather models and radar.

“I will look up weather models everything and pinpoint a spot where I think something will form there so then I would sit there and watch the area the whole day and hope that something like a supercell will pop up and move through there and I did that for a couple years,” he said.

Knepshield said chasing weather was a dream come true for him and said his advice for others who want to experience everything mother nature has to offer, is to make sure you are ready and train up.

“Just don’t go out and without not knowing anything, like I waited from when I really wanted to go out in 2010 until now — that was 12 years. Now I feel like I was ready. I was educated enough and I just went out and did it, it takes a lot of courage to go out and do it,” he said.

Knepshield said his next step is to get a degree in meteorology.

UNCG senior pursues dream as storm chaser

GET LOCAL BREAKING NEWS ALERTS

Top Picks