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Chasing storms and chasing dreams
A former Fort Scott resident is getting the chance to chase his dream by chasing storms on national television.
Brandon Ivey and partner Matt Hughes have begun filming for the "Storm Chasers" a reality series on Discovery Channel which follows teams of storm chasers as they document extreme weather.
"It's kind of like a dream come true for me and my chase partner," Ivey said.
Ivey and Hughes were chosen for the show at the last minute after storm chaser backed out. They came recommended by a fellow chaser in the Kansas City area and a chaser who appeared on the series last year.
Ivey and his partner have dreams of being full-time storm chasers. Ivey said they were not expecting such an opportunity to arise quite so soon.
"We thought eventually something may come down the road, but we never expected something this big to come this early," Ivey said.
Both men are hoping this opportunity opens doors for the future. Ivey said the two months on the job will give them a taste of what it is like to be a full-time storm chaser. He said he is away from his family more than before.
"Being away from the family is a little bit different this year," Ivey said.
Ivey and Hughes will be working with the crew headed by Sean Casey who is filming an IMAX movie based on extreme weather. They will be working with a vehicle developed by Casey known as the Tornado Intercept Vehicle which was designed to sit in the middle of a tornado and film the action
Severe weather is nothing new to Ivey, who has been chasing storms since 1996. He said he began chasing storms as soon as he got his driver's license. He has also been chasing storms for KWCH and The Storm Report.
"I was interested in storms since I was a kid," Ivey said. "I wanted to be an astronaut ... that evolved into being out in the field with the extreme weather and documenting it."
Both Ivey and Hughes are married and each have two sons. Ivey said his sons, 4 and 8 years old, have shown some interest in chasing storms. He said he will wait to take the oldest with him because he is concerned with the large amount of driving and down time. He added the youngest has begun to show interest.
"He is kind of interested but at the same time he still has that fear," Ivey said. "That's not something I'm going to push on my kids ... if they're interested in it and they want to go out and see it; at least they'll have that opportunity as they get older."
Filming will continue until the middle of June. Ivey said they are under pressure to perform and the storms have not produced any tornados.
He added they should be getting some more storms soon.
"We are really going to get into the active period within the next two weeks," Ivey said. "Once we get that first great tornado out of the way I think a lot of pressure will be taken off me and Matt."
Both Ivey and Hughes will be updating their journey through blogs, photos, and videos at www.thestormreport.com.