Warp-speed storms in SW Ontario
South-West Oxford, ON 11:41 AM Hurry-up-and-waiting at Reeces Corners (location of a destructive EF4 🌪️ back in 1983).
Travis Farncombe
From Ontario to Oklahoma, Chasing the Most Phenomenal Weather on the Planet
Chase Map
The storm chase logs of Travis Farncombe
Travis Farncombe
Toronto, ON
About
I am the founder Highways & Hailstones. I live with my family in Toronto, Ontario – about 2000 miles from Oklahoma City and the heart of Tornado Alley. Every spring and summer, I travel down there, to the American Midwest, to witness the most awe-inspiring weather on the planet.
The first time I chased was ten years ago; I signed up as a guest with a storm chase tour company, and joined that group for a week on the plains. I saw my first tornado on that trip. It was a silhouette on a dark Kansas night, betrayed by strobes of lightning flickering in the distance. While the rest of the tour guides and group scanned the storm to the south, a lingering flash drew my glance to the north, and there, unmistakable, was a backlit cone. It was serendipity. I yelled cone tornado!, and a storm chaser was born.
After chasing for a few years as a guest with Silver Lining Tours, I gradually began to spread my wings and chase on my own, having learned enough from Roger Hill and other veterans to chase safely and responsibly. I became a guide with SLT in 2015. Now, I am a certified spotter and chase locally in Southern Ontario, as well as down in Tornado Alley. I am always meeting new people, always learning, and always humbled by the power of nature.
