UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Early in a 10-day trip to the Midwest to observe and study severe weather events, the Penn State Storm Chase Team had a choice: Go left or go right.

One direction would put them further northwest in Oklahoma — an area that they knew was often the center for tornadoes and other massive storms — for the next few days. The other would take them into Texas, a frequent hot spot, but further away from some potentially powerful storms.

But forecasting the weather and communication are two things they’ve been trained well for, said Storm Chase Team president Justin Hassel. Fourteen students and one graduate student in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences’ Department of Meteorology and Atmospheric Science huddled in a room, splashing satellite and other data onto a nearby large screen television, deciding which way to go.

After some discussion, they headed southeast, spending the next week of their May trip chasing two massive Texas storms, visiting educational sites such as the National Weather Center in Norman, Oklahoma, and spending the occasional calm weather days enjoying Austin’s food scene.

Hassel, a rising senior majoring in meteorology and atmospheric science, has been lucky enough to attend another of the team’s iconic summer storm chase trips. He said decisions on the trip can have a cascading effect. You want to observe one phenomenon but also want to put yourself in a place to catch the next one.

He said he thinks they made the right call.

“You face a lot of adversity on these trips. There are long days and tough forecasts,” Hassel said. “But that’s part of the trip and the learning process. This group was very resilient and communicative. In the end, we made some great friendships, amazing memories and saw some really cool storms. I really can’t be any more grateful for this being my last chase. It was life-changing.”

Trips like this are great preparation for Hassel, who said he sees himself in the research realm of meteorology and most likely with severe weather events. Like others on the May Storm Chase trip, he's conducting research this summer: This time in Utah, studying wildfires.

That’s part of the thrill of the trip, he said. It’s not some straight-out-of-Hollywood scene of people driving into the eye of tornadoes. It’s a chance for students to see what they’re learning in classrooms and textbooks taking place before their eyes and in the skies.

“It’s a really incredible experience seeing all of the things you’re learning in class playing out in real life,” Hassel said. “We see the dynamics of supercells going up. It’s the calculus and physics we’re learning happening in real time. You’re able to visualize those things, which is one of the main reasons I love the chase so much.”

Building camaraderie takes longer than 10 days on the road, said club treasurer and president-elect Allison Sousa. She spent the time leading up to the trip focused on fundraising and community-building through events such as bowling night and restaurant fundraisers.

That approach helped the storm chase team begin as a “team” before they headed out for the May storm chase trip.

“It’s really important to get to know the people you’re going to be in a car with for ten days, and activities like bowling, hiking and trips to Berkey Creamery were perfect for building these friendships,” Sousa said. “We were such a tight knit group this year, and I do believe that these activities strengthened our bond.”

Quinlan Mulhern, who graduated from Penn State in 2022 with a degree in meteorology and atmospheric science, missed a few of the storm chase trips as an undergraduate student during the COVID-19 years. But, as the team’s adviser, he’s making up for it. The now doctoral student accompanied the undergraduate crew on the most recent trip and helped steer the team’s forecasting and travel approach.

Mulhern said students get a chance to forecast the weather on the fly, see if they are correct and then watch that forecast play out in real-time. Watching students come together to make decisions, he said, was his favorite part.

“Whether it was during forecast briefings or while we were witnessing a supercell, each team member showed a willingness to learn and always found a way to enjoy the experience,” Mulhern said. “It was also an incredible feeling when students would ask questions and try to better understand different aspects of the weather. I couldn’t have asked for a better team of students on the chase.”