While observing a tornado in El Reno, Okla., on May 31, 2013, Dr. Dorian Burnette had everything timed perfectly to keep a safe distance from the storm-but things did not go as planned.
As Burnette, who was alone on the chase, observed the tornado, he decided it was in his best interest to move from his location. This is when the tornado not only changed directions but also grew larger and increased in speed, which is very unusual for a tornado to do simultaneously.
"In strict meteorology terms, I knew this was a possibility, but normally tornados take off in the same direction of the thunderstorm," Burnette said. "I had not been exposed to this before and did not expect it to happen."
Another dangerous feature was that the tornado was "rain wrapped," making it barely visible. As he moved south, he became caught in the outer circulation of the storm.
"My ears popped for the very first time because the pressure was lowering," he said. "It was also the first time debris flew across the roadway in front of me."
Burnette was able to get to a safe location, out of the pathway of the storm, but it was nonetheless a close call.
"It's not an encounter I'm actually proud of," he said. "It makes for an interesting story I guess, but that's not what I'm out there for. I'm out there to document, educate and report back to the National Weather Service what I see."
Storm chasing is an aspect of Burnette's field that he has enjoyed doing since he began in 1997 as an undergraduate at Mississippi State University, while interning at NBC affiliate News Channel 3 in Wichita, Kan. Mark Bogner, then director of the severe storms intercept project at Kansas University first introduced Burnette to storm chasing.
"As you first start out, go storm chasing with someone who has been doing it for a while so you can learn the ropes," Burnette said. "Then you can go out on your own once you learned what not to do, because there are a lot of ways you can get yourself into trouble."
Growing up in Kansas, Burnette always had a passion for meteorology.
"Growing up in Kansas, I got exposed to a lot of severe weather from all sides," he said. "The only thing we didn't get in Kansas was hurricanes."
After receiving his degree in meteorology at Mississippi State, he became a weekend weather anchor at News Channel 3 in Wichita, Kan. After moving on from News Channel 3, he started working for the private weather company, WeatherData Inc., which issued storms warning across U.S. and even Mexico and Canada. While working there, he earned a master's in physical science from Emporia State University. After earning his master's, he began teaching at Wichita State and found a new passion for academics. After receiving his doctorate in environmental dynamics at the University of Arkansas, he stayed there for one year and taught geology courses.
Burnette is now an assistant professor at the University of Memphis, where he has taught multiple climatology and meteorology classes since the fall of 2012. He also gets to conduct many different forms of research in his field.
"I like doing both-teaching and the research game," he said. "So this is just a natural fit since this is a research institution. We have master's and Ph D programs in our department, so there is never a dull moment."
Burnette splits his time teaching and doing research. Currently, he is working on a collaborative project with colleagues from Columbia University, the University of Arkansas and NASA to construct a new North American Drought Atlas for the National Science Foundation.
One highlight of the research for Burnette is that he gets to pick everything he works on.
"Getting to pick my research is a really cool aspect," he said. "We are doing stuff we want to do, so it's fun."
Developing relationships and collaborating with scientists all over the nation is also a huge part of the research game to Burnette.
"We both team up with professors here in our department, but also want to have a reputation as well," he said. "It's not just here focused on campus, but you want to build your reputation on a national and international basis as well."
Though he spends much of his time teaching and researching, Burnette still makes time to go out into the field and chase storms as well. He even uses storm chasing as a teaching tool.
"I like to take students into the field with me," he said. "I'll take students from my severe weather class to observe storms in their real environment. What we study in the textbook are ideal situations, and the atmosphere tends to gravitate away from that. We can see certain features we have been learning about in class, and it seems to help things click pretty nicely for students."
Burnette still enjoys storm chasing and learns new things every time he goes out into the field.
"I learn something every single day when I'm out there," he said. "The atmosphere always teaches me something new, even on bust days when we go out in the field and see nothing."
