What Is the Average Salary of Storm Chasers?
When the majority of people take cover or move away from a storm, storm chasers do just the opposite. They follow storms actively in the hope of gaining pictures, video or meteorological information. This definitely is a career to get the adrenaline rushing, but it isn't necessary an industry that will pay your bills.
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Salary Average
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Storm chasers earn very low salaries. On average, they take home only about $18,000 annually, or $1,500 per month, according to the Simply Hired website. Because of the low average, most professional storm chasers recommend that you do storm chasing in addition to a related career like meteorology and treat the trade more like a hobby.
Costs and Deductions
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Although you may be able to reach the average storm chaser salary if you are talented in the field, you will not have all of your salary as take-home pay. For example, some of the income will be reinvested in equipment, travel and legal costs. Additionally, because storm chasing involves a high degree of safety risk, you should factor in the cost of medical coverage. These costs and deductions are why some professional storm chasers say they make nothing even though they're technically earning money.
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Factors Impacting Average
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The primary reason why the average salary for storm chasers is low is because storm chasers cannot guarantee their work. If weather remains good, their activity is limited; storm chasers work primarily in the spring. Additionally, storm chasers are restricted by their geographical location. Some areas like "Tornado Alley" are better suited to the profession because of the weather patterns in those regions.
Income Form
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Storm chasers do not have regular paid salaries the way many other workers do. Instead, they get most of their income from selling their data, photos and videos to media or research companies. These payments depend on the storm chaser's ability to network and find companies that are searching for material at the time the storm chaser acquires it. Some additional income may come from consulting, such as if a film producer wants information about what storm chasing is like or wants to portray someone in the field.
Considerations
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Even though the salary for storm chasers is low, this does not mean the work is not worthwhile. The images, video and data storm chasers collect sometimes provide wide recognition for artistic or scientific merit. Additionally, storm chasers can make more than the average if they know how to handle copyrights successfully and stay away from outright purchase of their data.
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References
- Photo Credit Don Farrall/Photodisc/Getty Images
