Tony Laubach is a veteran storm chaser and degreed Meteorologist who has pursued severe weather across the United States since his first tornado in 1997. Over three decades on the road, he has documented hundreds of tornadoes, contributed to field research with projects such as TWISTEX, and shared extreme weather stories through broadcast, digital media, and national reporting. Today, Tony continues his work with AccuWeather, tracking, explaining, and experiencing the storms firsthand.
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Southeast Illinois
1,689 Miles | SPC Outlook: Enhanced

My 30th season kicks off with a supercell-filled day across southeast Illinois that ended in a blizzard of hail and an almost tornado near the Wabash River.

TORNADOES: 0
MAX HAIL: 0.88"
FLOODING: Observed
LIGHTNING: Not Captured

Chase Log: September 9, 2025

Eastern CO/Western KS (792 Miles)
TORNADOES: 0
MAX HAIL: 2.00"
FLOODING: Observed

Chase Log: August 4, 2025

Northeast Colorado (493 Miles)
TORNADOES: 0
MAX HAIL: 4.25"
FLOODING: Observed

Chase Log: June 13, 2025

Nebraska Panhandle (450 Miles)
TORNADOES: 2
MAX HAIL: 0.88"
FLOODING: Not Observed

Chase Log: May 23, 2025

Northeast Colorado (339 Miles)
TORNADOES: 3
MAX HAIL: None
FLOODING: Observed

Chase Log: May 18, 2025

Northwest Kansas (654 Miles)
TORNADOES: 6
MAX HAIL: 1.00
FLOODING: Observed

Chase Log: May 16, 2025

Southeast Missouri (611 Miles)
TORNADOES: 3
MAX HAIL: 0.88"
FLOODING: Observed

Tony's Blogbach, Between the Isobars

Latest Blog Entries

Wheels Up Tomorrow For First Chase Stint of 2026

March 3, 2026 | Forecast Thoughts

The green lit has been given for the first multi-day outing of the season!  Spending a few hours this afternoon readying the gear as this will be my first run with ALL the new gear and setup.  My Illinois chase included the tablet run, but since then, new cameras, a…

March To Come in like a Lion

March 2, 2026 | Forecast Thoughts

It’s been a minute since we’ve seen a multi-day stretch of outlooks from SPC.  If you ignore the calendar, you could pretend this is May, but nope, welcome to the first week of March! I’m prepping here at home today to head out for that multi-day stint.  It should all…

It’s Like Old Times Again

February 27, 2026 | Gear and Gadgets

In the midst of this mass gear update, I’ve found myself kinda living back in old times.  I remember in the early years, many trips to Ace Hardware, particularly the one in Lakewood off Alameda and Union, where I’d go in and buy various pieces to jimmy-rig my chase setup. …

Career Stats

Stat Keeping Started in 2002
Career Miles: 539,267
Career Chases: 549
Career Tornadoes: 474
Career Tornado Days: 197
Career Tornado Average: 0.359
Career Work Logs: 403
Career Total Logs: 952
Career 1K Mile Chases: 139
Tactical Weather-Instrumented Sampling in/near Tornadoes Experiment
Chase Log: May 23, 2008
Northwest Kansas
Tornadoes: 7
Chase Log: May 22, 2008
Northwest Kansas
Tornadoes: 5
Chase Log: May 22, 2010
Northeast South Dakota
Tornadoes: 7
Chase Log: May 29, 2008
Southern NE/Northern KS
Tornadoes: 16
Chase Log: May 23, 2011
Central Oklahoma
Tornadoes: 2
Chase Log: April 23, 2007
Southern Kansas
Tornadoes: 1

HAIL CHASES

Chase Log: May 5, 2006
Western Texas
Max Hail: 3.00"
Chase Log: April 29, 2003
Northeast Colorado
Max Hail: 1.25"
Chase Log: May 1, 2024
Central Kansas
Max Hail: 4.50"
Chase Log: April 3, 2008
Northwest Texas
Max Hail: 2.00"

FLOOD CHASES

Chase Log: July 7, 2011
Northeast Colorado
Flooding: Urban
Chase Log: June 8, 2004
Northeast Colorado
Flooding: Urban Flooding
Chase Log: August 13, 2016
Southern Illinois
Flooding: Major Flash Flooding
Chase Log: June 16, 2019
Southern Kansas
Flooding: Street Flooding

LIGHTNING CHASES

Chase Log: August 11, 2011
Northeast CO/Southwest NE
Lightning: Captured
Chase Log: May 6, 2016
Northeast Colorado
Lightning: Captured
Chase Log: April 12, 2007
Texas Panhandle
Lightning: Captured
Chase Log: June 13, 2025
Nebraska Panhandle
Lightning: Captured

MY CHASING HISTORY

Where It All Began

The first chase, the first tornado, the May 14, 1997 Ohio-chase that started it all.

The Story of #81

The number of Washington Redskins great, Art Monk, becomes a storm chasing icon.

The Road to Half-a-Million

In 22 years, 2 months, and 2 days, I drove half-a-million mile chasing storms across…