Storm Chasing Thrills and Holiday Danger (Hour 1)

Broadcasting live from the Civic Media Studios in Green Bay.

This is Night Light with P. Chwaba.

Your inside source on everything entertainment from Wisconsin to Hollywood.

And now a guy who loves the sin but hates the sinner, P. Chwaba.

Welcome to

Night Light,

ladies and gentlemen.

I love all people.

And I forgive all sins.

And I have to because I work with Conrad.

Uh, how you doing tonight, buddy?

I'm doing good.

Yeah.

A little chilly out there.

It's a little chilly, but it's Wisconsin and winter and you always call attention to the fact that it's cold here.

I find that puzzling.

You know, I was trying, I was moving just a couple days, you know, since I got this new apartment.

Yeah.

It's yesterday I went home, grabbed a bucket, tossed some stuff in there, moved it over.

Today I did the same thing.

And I had to park a little far away.

You're using a bucket to move?

Just one bucket.

Yeah, like a bin.

Well, it's a huge bin.

I should say a huge bin.

But, you know, just moving some clothes and stuff.

Hey,

Ma, you got any buckets of moving?

That is the voice of Conrad Krieger, who is producing tonight's show and working the board.

This is a great, we have a lot of fun plans tonight, folks.

It is a Thursday, which means we're doing the popcorn pick of the week.

We've got text to win coming up.

Really, we just got really fun guests tonight.

It's gonna be a blast.

We've got some funny stories right here in Wisconsin, some stuff that might surprise you too.

And in just a couple minutes, we're gonna talk farts.

And this is not typically on my radar, folks.

I'm not an earthy, like I can laugh at an accidental fart as much as the next guy, but I don't really find that much humor in, I find it's,

I don't like the word.

It's like right up there with booger.

I can't when people say that it's an instant turnoff.

I disagree.

Well,

I agree with the

word.

I don't like the word booger.

I hate the word booger, but the word fart, I think is a great word.

But the word or the act both under dire circumstances.

Both are great.

All right.

So we're going to indulge Conrad and I've got two funny things we can talk about on the heels of last night, because what did we say last night about said?

bodily function.

Do you remember?

Well, are you talking about the video that we were talking about?

Yeah.

Well, the video and then we had, we mentioned it last night, kind of against my will, but we'll talk about it.

We're going to get into that.

We're going to tell you why Wisconsin is dangerous around the Christmas and it's high up there on the list and I couldn't believe it.

This is a big day to break up with people.

And I'm gonna tell you about a guy who used a flashlight for his headlight on his car in Door County.

All of this is coming up tonight.

We got a great question.

And it's great to have you here.

I hope you're part of the show, folks.

The phone lines are always open.

Call us and let us know how you're doing.

If you wanna weigh in on any of the things we're talking about, obviously everything is on the table.

When I left here, Con, last night, I got back to my car, I was on the phone when I got here and I was totally distracted.

So I got back to my car like 805 whatever and there's two ice chunks on my front seat And I'm looking through the window going how did that happen?

Well the window was open.

Oh, I was on the phone and distracted because you know you put your window down to use your parking Yeah, and I just forgot to close the window.

I'm lucky.

You know my car didn't get I had two gold bullion plates in the passenger seat and luckily they were not

Oh, that's good.

That's good for you.

Yeah.

But, you know, did he just like sit on it and warm up the icicles?

Oh, I got

rid of it.

I was still like, how did the ice chunks get in?

But apparently, when I rolled the window down, they were leaning, you know, because they melt or whatever, and they leaned in and they stayed cold because the window was open.

So that was kind of a careless on my part.

I always, do you always lock your car?

Oh, every time.

You know what people in Marinette do?

They open the door?

They leave it unlocked, but here's, this is even weirder.

They leave their car running in a grocery store parking lot and they just go in.

I almost want to steal the car on principle to teach them a lesson.

I haven't yet.

Well, I'll say this.

I learned my lesson when I'm not locking my car once.

So I lock it like five times every time I leave my car.

Like you hit the button like,

and I'm like, did I hear it?

Did I hear it?

I make sure it's locked.

I learned my

lesson once.

Everyone in society has some level of OCD.

I hit it twice, just in case the first one didn't take.

I hit it twice, which even in Marinette, like I'm better now because there are times I don't lock my car.

There just is not, there are crimes in Marinette, but car theft is not high on the list.

So I'm kind of like, and I have a 26 year old Toyota Land Cruiser.

So I encouraged my wife, she likes to drive that.

because it's got great all wheel drive.

It's awesome car.

But it's getting to the point where we got to trade it in.

So I'm like, leave it running.

I'm trying to dare people to steal it.

So we just get some insurance money because I don't want to have to list it on Facebook Marketplace or sell it.

I don't really want to sell it anyway.

But

I even in my garage right now, it's a personal garage right in front of my apartment building.

Yeah.

I have my own number slot, you know.

Yeah.

And.

I close the garage door, and I still lock my car.

Do you really?

Say, I don't do that.

In the garage, I'm like, if they're willing to get in the garage, take the car.

Actually, I learned my lesson twice in Milwaukee.

Speaking

of car theft.

I

don't know if I told this.

My car got broken into when I lived in Milwaukee.

Twice.

Yeah.

And they didn't take anything really of value.

They took the things that had some level of my name on it.

And so they took a pair of shoes that I used for basketball in 10th grade.

Okay.

And it said my name on it.

And my

number.

And then they took a Kiewaskam High School sweatshirt.

And then like a pair of workout shoes.

So.

Like the worst thing that could happen is what they'd show up and cheer against you I don't like

it was I was like that sucks, but like my nice sunglasses are still in this

Yeah, that's crazy I when we lived in LA I had a Honda Civic that had over 200,000 miles on it a lot of my comedy miles my wife took it to her school one day I don't remember why but she comes out and it's gone and It was stolen and they recovered it.

It was completely stripped

Everything was stolen.

I had CDs cassette tapes still this is only like 1998 maybe So I had to go to the impound lot at Somewhere the LAPD in the valley and I go there and this guy walks me to the car.

It's on blocks or whatever it was there were no tires left Everything was gone.

Wow except a st.

Christopher metal that I kept on the visor that was up that they didn't see that my great uncle who used to work on United Jets at O'Hare

or somebody gave it to me on his behalf after he passed away, and I was like a traveler, so I thought, okay, so I still have that to this day.

Luckily, and that was the one thing in the car, I was glad it was still there.

It had sentimental value.

But I did look at the cop.

I said, so can I just drive this home now?

And he looked at me like I was out of my, like there was no seats, there was nothing in there, no wheels.

Finally I got a laugh out of that guy.

Yeah, you know, I thought this story was going that like Joe, your son took the car while your mom was in it.

We've already covered that.

Hey, let's get to, I'm about to tell you who's on the show and we, this is going to be fun folks.

Popcorn Pick of the Week, Storm Chasing.

and entertainment unions and comedy talk.

That's all coming up.

I'm telling you from who, right after this, but right now we're gonna do our nightlight question of the night.

Let's talk about the question.

Okay, question.

Question.

Question.

Pregunta.

Question.

Question.

Okay, I have a question.

Questions.

This question.

Domanda.

Question.

Questions.

What is something you just can't get into?

Could be a trend, could be something really popular, but it's just not for you.

I was thinking about this actually have a lot of stuff But for me it's anime I just I appreciate the art form people love it.

I just don't Let's say oh, it's beautiful anime.

I'm like, okay.

It's still not gonna make me watch it, you know

Well, I mean anime is not just you know that form like you know like in Japan type of anime or whatever

right

full animation right and if you watched animation movies you like

Well, it is anime.

I always thought it just pertained to that style of animation.

I do like the Simpsons, and that's nothing fancy.

I

mean, because I talked about this with someone too, and they're like, I can't get into those shows either.

And they're like, well, you watch, you know, I watch Family Guy.

Yeah, which is fine

anime.

It's more about the writing and it's funny But I it's that's what I can't get into but let us know what you think folks 8 5 5 7 5 2 4 8 4 2 8 5 5 7 5 civic You can also text us on the civic media app, which is outstanding or if you're watching the radio on YouTube X or Facebook you can drop us a Stream comment and I will read it on the radio

Uh, what do you say, Conn?

What do you,

uh... I have two, actually.

Okay.

And I said one of them on social media.

And it's drinking... having a drink neat.

I can't...

Oh, interesting.

I

like... Really?

Everything that I... if I'm at a bar, it needs to have ice in it.

Really?

Even like a good whiskey or scotch or something?

It needs to be

cold for me.

And even with shots, like, if I have a shot with someone, like, can I get that chilled, please?

Can I get that watermelon shot chilled, please?

Not like that.

Well, what kind of shots

do you

do?

Well, see, I mean, depending who I'm with, but the Rumpelmans is disgusting, by the way, but also better cold.

And I like my favorite thing to have just by itself is bamboo, great rum, and it with ice.

Oh, it's fantastic.

But I've had it just as a single like shot with no... Yeah.

and it just ruins it for me.

It doesn't taste good to me after it, you know?

It's something that I can enjoy when there's ice and I can have sip it, you know?

Sure.

Yeah, so that's one.

And then the other, reading.

Reading?

I just don't,

I can't get into reading.

I've tried

after school.

That's

actually like three things, I think you said.

One needs, I guess, is the same.

Yeah, reading, I think a lot of people struggle with these days.

Me too, I just, I can't read anymore.

I used to be a voracious reader too.

It's pretty sad But let us know what you think folks and if you're on Facebook or YouTube or wherever give us a like or a follow We appreciate that the other thing I was gonna say is hockey like I appreciate it as a sport love a game seven.

I just can't Get myself to care and I've tried you can't even watch the Stanley Cup well if it was a game seven I would I didn't watch any game seven But like I remember when the Blackhawks won like three championships in seven years, and I'm that's you know, Chicago's my

Hometown my half my hometown with man up, but I I just I tried you know couldn't do it All right, so there you go.

That's our question of the night.

What is something you just can't get into let us know and We will read it and make you part of the show, which is always fun.

I have to say Let's get to the text-to-win contest too because this is weird people are running out of chances Conrad

We've got two more nights here including tonight for you to be part of our grown-up gift list multi-state civic media text to win contest Really fun contest we could put 200 bucks in your pocket if if you win the daily prize and then you're also automatically enrolled in the The grand prize when there are three of them brand new snowblower a stainless steel cookware set Or a portable air conditioner, that's another thing I can't really get into is cooking I try I want to make something.

It's good, but I don't

I wish I cooked every day.

Yeah, I feel the same way.

Yeah.

So there you go, folks.

All you need is the app to play.

Text in the keyword I'm about to give you and you will be off to the races.

You only have a few more chances to win in our text to win contest.

It's multi-state.

It's our grown-up gift list.

You can't go wrong.

And kind of tell people what they can do after they get a confirmation link.

Yeah.

Once you get that, you just, you go, you follow that link and you can earn three extra entries, which is...

Pretty cool.

And you just subscribe to the civic media today newsletter.

And then if you go to Apple podcast or Spotify, both and follow nightly with each other, you can earn three extra entries there.

So that's pretty cool.

That is a deal.

And our hour one keyword folks that you need to text in on the app is quiet.

C U I E T quiet.

C U I E T. We could all use a little of that.

When we come back, I'm going to tell you why Wisconsin is a dangerous place, second in the country around the holidays.

That's coming up next.

It's Night Light with Pete Chihuahua on the Civic Media radio

network.

Welcome

back to Nightlight.

I'm Pete Schwabba.

Conrad, we're even now.

We've both misspelled a keyword, this text-to-win contest.

I still think mine was worse.

Well, I had the sound right.

It's Q-U-I-T-Q-U.

I-E-T, quiet, Q-U-I-E-T.

So there you go, that's this hour's keyword.

Sorry about that, folks.

My mind does tend to wander.

So all right, tonight on the show, this is so exciting.

In about 10 minutes, Jordan Hall will be here.

Jordan is a storm chaser, a bona fide actual storm chaser, and we'll talk to him a little bit about weather and what he does.

Most of you have seen Twister.

That's about as close as I've gotten to storm chasing, but this guy has been in the eye of a storm.

I've got great questions for him and many.

So he will be here tonight.

We had Mace Michael scheduled, but we tried to reschedule Mace.

So we are hoping Mace becomes a regular part of the show because he does such an amazing job.

But we will keep you posted on when Mace will be on the show.

But Jordan Hall at 535.

Katherine Lake from WMDX in Madison here at Civic Media is here to make the popcorn pick of the week at 635.

And then our pal Rich Talarico.

Very funny guy.

Key and Peele writer, SNL, Mad TV.

He's written for all the big shows.

He will be here to talk about a cause he has undertaken regarding entertainment unions and also to talk a little comedy.

So it'll be good to talk to Rich.

Our question of the night is, what is something you just can't get into?

For me, it's anime.

For Conrad, he needs ice in his drink.

He can't drink things neat.

You're probably not alone there.

And then what else?

You had another one.

Reading.

Reading, that's right.

All right, so there you go.

Not much of a reader.

Let us know what you can't get into.

I thought this was interesting.

Today is national, no wait, it's not national break update.

This is the most popular, this is the most popular day of the year to break up with someone.

And you know how it started?

Conrad?

I'm talking to you.

I took a mental powder for a few seconds.

December 11th is the most popular day of the year to break up with a partner, particularly a boyfriend or girlfriend.

It's based on data from Facebook.

It's always social media.

Around 15 years ago, researchers used Facebook statistics to study when people are most likely to change their status from inner relationship to single.

And the day with the biggest spike was December 11th.

Why do you think that is?

I think I have a theory like you're getting close to Christmas and you don't want to break up with someone like on Christmas Eve or even a week before but we're still two weeks out.

Maybe that's enough.

I don't know.

They don't want you to meet their family or something like that.

Could be.

But they don't want to have to buy a gift.

Oh, yeah.

Probably some cheapskates out there.

Maybe they're, you know, I'm wondering about this too.

It's like, is this in person?

day or is it like a text day, you know?

Right.

Do you send an email, say sorry?

Yeah.

I liked you, but now I don't.

In an email form, thank you sincerely.

Conrad Krieger.

Conrad with a K Krieger.

See, I think that's what, I think that's how my wife would dump me.

She would send me a text while we're laying in the same bed together.

Hey.

A more recent study from the dating app, Flirtini, love that name, found that three in four online daters have experienced a breakup during the Christmas season.

Yeah, that's weird.

It seems like you don't want to be alone.

If you're used to being with someone anyway, anyway, this is considered breakup day.

So there you go, folks.

And we got a text from Brett and Brown Deer.

He said, or things got rough over Thanksgiving and it's a slow breakup.

That's true.

You brought up religion or politics over Thanksgiving and how they hate you.

We've got a couple texts here from last night, if I can find them.

Was it Bud?

Yeah, Bud.

Bud's Overnight Texts are awesome.

He's in the 608, and he listens to the rebroadcast between 4 and 6 a.m., which is fantastic.

He says, hey, Pete and Conrad, what I'd like for Christmas is a supply of, I don't know what that is.

What is it?

Rougiat?

How do you pronounce that?

I don't even know.

You've seen that word before, Bud.

Says love your show Romeo from Jamesville Is

that the

poison that they used?

Wow good good pull Bud continues moments later with a PS just for the record Juliet would not want me to get that that must be what that is love your shoe But but was drunk this morning.

I think he says love your shoe Romeo Romeo where art thou alright bud

Good to hear from you buddy.

I don't care what but text.

It's just fun to uh, it's just fun to read bud's text

It is not what I was thinking it's it's ed medicine

Rugee it is ed medicine.

That's all I'm getting boy Romeo at like 15 needed that which I'm sure didn't even exist then They might as well.

Maybe that was the poison that he was well.

That's why I was

That made sense when you said it.

That's what he thought the poison would do.

Here's another interesting thing, and we can talk about this as the show goes on.

Wisconsin is considered the second most dangerous place or state to be in at Christmas time.

And they based it on 10 metrics, the study we saw on Wise Brother Media.

It said metrics like fires, crime rates, injury rates, and how slick the roads are this time of year.

Wisconsin was number two.

The top risk factor is, can you guess it, Conn?

Drinking.

Drinking, yeah.

It means more injuries and more drunk drivers.

So we can go over this list.

There are 10 states and some really weird ones too.

You know, another one for Wisconsin could be food comas.

Food comas, someone trying to drive while eating a big old cheese curd.

Yeah, I don't know.

I guess that's, I like to consider Wisconsin the Christmas state.

I call Marinette Christmas City, USA.

But we do it we do drink here.

Sometimes you drive around Marinette like it's 6 a.m And there are bikes parked outside a bar in the dead of winter and those are guys that lost their license So but their die-hards, you know, they're gonna have their drink whether it's after a third shift or they just can't sleep But that's not good.

We should we should try to lower that because Wisconsin is the Christmas state.

All right storm chasing coming up next folks with Jordan Hall.

I'm so excited to talk to this guest

And we will do that after the news.

It's Peach Waba and Nightlight on the Civic Media Radio

Network.

Welcome back.

This is Nightlight with Pete Schwabba.

Our question of the night is what is something you just can't get into?

I say anime.

Conrad says drinking spirits neat and reading.

And I'm kind of there, too.

I wish I still read.

I used to read a lot, but let us know what you think.

855-752-4842-855-75 Civic.

I will give a reminder also for the keyword, and I will spell it right this time, coming up later in this segment most likely, so stick around.

Right now, I'm very excited to welcome my next guest,

This next gentleman, he is a bona fide storm chaser.

So if you've seen the movie Twister, you've probably been fascinated by what storm chasers do, just like me.

So let's find out for ourselves by, if it, how close a reality that is.

Let's find that out by welcoming Jordan Hall, storm chaser.

Hey, Jordan, how are you?

Hey, how are you?

I'm good.

You, is it tough for you to just sit there and talk and not get an adrenaline rush like you do in your, in your profession?

I still get a little bit of an adrenaline dump hopping on these.

I still get the nerves a little bit.

So I think I'm feeling good right now.

You're going to be fine.

This is going to be a blast.

I'm so excited to have you here.

Is there something you just can't get into?

Do you have something like that in life?

That I just can't do?

Yeah, like, you know, whether it's rock music or, you know, jelly cookies, hockey, whatever, just something you could think about it too if you want.

Let me think on it.

Let me

think on it.

I'm not a huge, I'm actually, I'm not a huge soccer guy.

I don't like soccer.

Okay.

Yeah.

I can see that.

You're probably not alone there.

All right.

So let's, let's jump right in.

I'm so excited to have you here.

I probably said that 18 times and it could be part of the coffee, the coffee could be talking.

I need coffee.

How do you you would not need coffee?

I think because what you do you you just have to get your adrenaline going but So I think people see twister and they go oh that looks really cool At least to watch when I was reading about you earlier You actually are a fan of the twister and that kind of got you excited to storm chase So tell us how you got into this line of work

Yeah, so I mean I grew up watching the movie Twister that was my favorite movie when I was a kid and then middle school me and my dad actually watched storm chasers on Discovery Channel and That kind of brought even more of a love for weather into that and being from Montana originally we didn't have a whole lot of crazy weather outside of like Eastern Montana so Long story short went to college in Chattanoobrasca and started skipping class to go storm chasing because there's just there and that's the kind of how it all started

Wow, okay.

So Montana, so were you interested in weather before storm chasing or did that happen?

Was it like storms first and now you're fascinated by weather because they cause storms?

How did that work?

Honestly, I think just

When I'm watching the movie Twister, I was just obsessed with tornadoes is what it started out as.

It was just like, oh my God, tornadoes are fascinating.

Like back when my grandma had like the super slow computer, you know, the original computers, I was probably downloading viruses trying to get tornado photos to pull up on Christmas.

And so I can get all started with the movie Twister and just seeing tornadoes.

And then when Storm Chasers came out, I was just fascinated.

It's like, oh, go out and chase tornadoes.

That's a way to do it.

That's a way to go see it.

just kind of snowballed from there.

Man, you know, it's so, it's fascinating to me, like the movie, how close is the movie?

You know, movies are movies, they take liberties, all that kind of stuff, and they got these crazy gizmos looking for storms.

Is that realistic?

And is what they do realistic?

So there's

a lot of realistic stuff.

And then there's obviously your, your fur Hollywood stuff.

And

I

think a lot of the journey and like a lot of like everybody getting together and you have a lot of friends and every, there's like a camaraderie type of thing.

That's real that you see that a lot out there and you see a lot of competition as far as like taking like a regular pickup truck and getting hit directly.

not rolling or rolling and not blowing your windows out and surviving.

And that's kind of a farce.

But there's a lot of there's a lot of real things in the movies.

So that part where Glenn Powell in the second one where his truck kind of those things come down and like pin him to the ground, do those exist?

Is that real?

Yeah.

So I've actually chased in the dominated three with Reed Timmer.

So it's kind of like a dream come true, watching it in middle school on TV and then actually being a part of that team was pretty cool.

And in that vehicle, it actually has spikes that will deploy into the ground and hold you, but it's also got an airbag system that drops down so the wind can't get underneath.

But that's another thing with the movie.

They have the spikes that go down, but nothing is preventing the wind from getting underneath the vehicle.

So I don't think that would actually work.

Interesting.

OK.

That makes sense.

So but it does work if you get if you eliminate the air under there.

That and making sure you're not putting it in something that's too strong to and it all depends on the debris if your vehicle is getting hit with debris or not.

So many factors that go into it.

Wow.

The closest I've come to storm chasing was trying to find a nice warm, gentle breeze.

And I even failed at that.

So, I'm kind of in awe of what you do.

It's hard this time of the year, finding

one warm air.

That's for sure.

So, I was reading about you earlier.

You've been a fireman, a volunteer fireman.

You've done search and rescue.

You're a drone pilot.

Are those good preparatory things for storm chasing or what's the best training?

You know, honestly, I think being a volunteer firefighter for the few years that I was in college and growing up in a first responder family has helped me the most because as far as storm chasing goes, whether it's tornadoes or even just hurricanes, wildfires or anything, we're usually the first one to arrive.

on scene to anything that happened usually before the cops before the firefighters so having that experience with first aid and knowing how you know not to move somebody or you know how knowing how to render and help people and just talk to people has made is this probably been the most important thing that's carried over to storm chasing.

That's so cool.

My guest is Jordan Hall.

He is a bonafide storm chaser and he joins us here on nightlight for the first time I have a question for you because I've never really gotten a good answer And I've asked friends who were weather people, but they probably don't know as much about tornadoes as you do I was staying in Madison, Wisconsin once at the concourse hotel right downtown and They called everybody down.

They said we're having a weather issue.

There are tornadoes in the area

Please come down to the lobby.

And I had my 12 year old son with me at the time.

So we went down there.

Not everybody did.

But I swear, I saw these like whirling dervishes outside between the buildings that seem like they never touched down.

What did I see there, Jordan?

Because some of us were talking about it.

And it's like, is there just not, it's not like Tornado Alley.

Like they can't just touch down with all these buildings.

Is that, is that the problem?

I mean, you can get tornadoes in town.

That definitely happens.

You're probably seeing little eddies they're called.

So when you get wind that goes between buildings, they can tend to spin and kind of spin and twirl.

But as far as like getting a tornado around big buildings, it definitely happens.

It just comes down to the storm and the timing and just everything kind of has to come together.

But buildings don't necessarily prevent tornadoes from happening.

So

why don't you hear more of them though in the sit?

Like.

It's not like Illinois is flat.

I used to live in Chicago.

I live in a small town now in Wisconsin, and I just don't see them.

Is it just the luck of the draw?

Honestly, I think it's definitely a luck of the draw because you need a tornado to form, which mind you, a tornado is a very, very small part of the storm altogether.

I mean,

it can be 100 yards wide.

So for that tornado itself to actually hit

the metro area or hit one of those big buildings.

I mean, it's it's like a needle in the haystack for it to happen.

It does happen, but it's very rare.

Like Oklahoma City is buried in tornado alley and they have still yet to get one right through downtown.

So

I think

it's going to happen.

I still don't know when

I'm sure you'll be there.

What is the most freaked out you've ever been when it came to a storm or a tornado with some type of weather event?

Uh, I honestly, I think the most freaked out I've ever been was a few weeks ago, uh, in the Philippines when I was doing a super typhoon out there.

I got asked about

that.

Yes.

And you said you were in the eye.

You were, you were in the Philippines and you were caught in the eye of the storm.

I mean, I've seen that in the movies, but how does that happen?

So going out there, I was actually targeting the storm, trying to get into the eye with it as a hurricane.

It's basically like a hurricane, same thing, but

how the

typhoon over there.

And my goal is to get right in the center of the eye because in the eye, it's usually calm.

You can see all the way up and it's just, it's just a really tricky to do, especially in another country.

So went out there, went to a remote area, a little village, um, and got stranded actually because the road got surged out.

like 12 hours beforehand, the water ripped the road out.

So as I was there, the water, the storm surge was coming in so full way higher than I thought it was going to be.

I was genuinely concerned about the building.

Wow.

So I mean, I know I sound like a big geek here, but like what?

How do you get in the eye?

Isn't it like treacherous?

Like can't the storm rip you apart while you're trying to get in the eye?

I always saw people like got in the eye of a storm accidentally and it's like, oh crap, how do I get out of here?

You know what I mean?

You voluntarily entered the eye.

Yeah, so with tornadoes, they're a little different because it's so chaotic and it's...

Very many like it's such a small thing where it's like a hurricane.

It's such a huge system You can kind of you have time to kind of pinpoint where that eyes going and it's still tricky But yeah, no getting into the eyes really difficult because that means you have to go through the eye wall

Especially on hurricanes, it's all straight line wind, which is a little different than tornadoes where it's always every which direction and it has more of that ripping motion.

Hurricanes, it's all straight line.

So it's all blowing in one direction, but your most intense winds are usually on the northeast side of that eye wall.

And that's where you can see like with a strong one like Hurricane Melissa and Jamaica this year, that's where you see sustained winds at like 160 plus miles per hour, gusting to 200.

at times.

So you have to be in a place that you trust isn't going to collapse to.

And that's another issue there.

I

can't even imagine.

Have you ever seen a storm or tornado where you're just like, nope, no thanks.

That's too intense.

Has that happened?

Yes.

Uh, there's been a few times with that.

Uh, earlier this year there was a tornado in South Dakota.

He's a Gary South Dakota.

One of the most photogenic tornadoes I've ever seen in my life, but by far probably one of the most violent tornadoes I've ever seen in my life.

And I actually was, uh, normally I get right up on tornadoes.

I get as close as possible without, you know, getting hurts, um, usually within a hundred yards or so.

This was one I actually had to sit a little further back from because it looked like you had

Somebody was playing a video right in front of you and like a time lapse like it was fast forwarded But it was actually happening that fast and that was it was pretty pretty scary as it's intimidating when you see something like that.

I can't even imagine Aside from an area region like tornado alley Where are tornadoes most likely to hit like worldwide?

Is there one region that is more susceptible to them?

Or one region where you can't explain where they happen more

So the United States is I'm pretty sure one of the leaders in tornadoes We are just like the hot tornado hot spot But another place that gets them quite frequently is South America and even Africa just the way the tropes go and the topography It's really unique though because everybody you I'm sure you've heard it.

Everybody says oh tornado alley is shifting east.

Do you heard that?

No

It's a big thing.

So like

tornado alley, you know, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, everybody talked, you know, 10 years ago, there's tornadoes all the time.

And the last 10 years has been pretty, pretty dead.

And there's been a lot of tornadoes down in Mississippi, Alabama.

So everybody's been saying, Oh, it's moving east.

It's leaving the plans.

And it's like, well, no, it's not actually happening.

It's more of a

the people, more people are seeing them.

We have technology.

We have more radars.

And now all the tornadoes that were happening down in the trees down in like Mississippi, Alabama that you would have never seen are actually starting to get reported.

And that's why we see those numbers go up.

Wow, his name is Jordan Hall.

He is a bona fide storm chaser.

He is joining us tonight for the first time.

We'll have more with Jordan after a short break right now.

We've got on the stream, Bud says, I taught middle school science for 15 years and used some storm chaser YouTube videos to inform my students, maybe prepping future storm chasers that will one day get to meet Jordan.

I'm sure they'll be thrilled about that, but we'll talk more to our new friend, Jordan, after this very short break.

It's Peach Waba and Nightlight on the Civic Media.

network.

Yeah.

Great to have you with me tonight, folks.

It is Thursday night, the Christmas Eve of weeknights.

We are doing the popcorn pick of the week at 6.35 with WMDX's Catherine Lake and Key and Peele SNL and Mad TV writer Rich Talarico is here at 7.20 tonight.

Right now, my guest is Jordan Hall.

He is a storm chaser and we are talking to him about what he does and it fascinates me.

But before we get back to him, I'm going to give you the keyword again.

This hour's keyword in our grown-up gift list, text to win, multi-stage.

contest here at Civic Media.

You need the app, text it in on the app, and you're eligible for 200 bucks.

And you also will be automatically enrolled in our grand prize giveaway, which is a brand new snowblower, a stainless steel cookware set, or a portable air conditioner.

But this hour's keyword is quiet.

Q-U-I-E-T.

That's tough, those three vowels.

That's what Jandie up the first time.

Quiet.

Q-U-I-E-T.

Good luck, everybody.

So there you go.

All right, we're talking to Jordan Hall here.

Jordan, you seem like a very normal guy.

My question is, I guess, how dangerous is this?

Like, you seem like a guy who likes life, who had a fairly normal upbringing, but this is a thrill-seeking profession.

How dangerous really is it?

I mean, it has its dangerous aspects.

Obviously getting the closer you get, the more dangerous it is.

That's why it's important to be prepared.

But honestly, something most people don't think of, the most dangerous part of storm chasing is honestly the driving and driving to target areas.

We do almost, I do over 80,000 to 100,000 miles of driving a

year.

Yes.

So what, what do you mean?

Like just you're more likely to get in a car accident than be swallowed up by a tornado?

Is that?

Absolutely.

No kidding.

Yes.

So,

um,

obviously you could, you watch the movies and you see the videos and you're like, Oh my God, tornadoes are scary.

And look at this video, but getting close to tornadoes is actually extremely difficult because you have to know you have to find the road.

You got to forecast where it's going.

And in that whole process, the driving is the most dangerous part because especially close to storms, because people are panicking in the moment that, you know, there's a tornado.

And if you're in a city or like a, a more of a metro area, people are running red lights, blowing through stop signs.

And so it's very, that, that's, that's honestly the most dangerous part is the people around you.

And also the long drives, like if I have a tornado chase in Oklahoma and I got to get the.

Iowa the next day.

I chased all day, then I got to drive all night, and then I got to get there to Iowa.

So all the long drives that up.

That is fascinating.

I was not expecting that as an answer.

So all right, I have to say, most of my life is spent, and I have a pretty boring life compared to you, but most of it is spent avoiding.

like, oh, I climbed up the ladder.

I went too high and lost my balance.

What was I thinking?

Drove too fast on ice and hit a patch, joined the Navy SEALs, whatever it might be.

How many moments like that have you had where you were like, oh, no, this is an OCRAP moment?

I've had quite a few.

There's been a few times where I've gotten a little too close to tornadoes and didn't have enough time to hit my escape route and got mowed down

at any

time.

Uh, gotten way too close, had debris slam in the vehicle.

Pretty like, oh crap, like this is not

good.

And when, when you were like that, was it like you just made a mistake and got careless or greedy or, or, or what?

It was a mix of being greedy of wanting to be a little close and also just being.

I thought I had an escape route.

Uh, I looked at maps.

I glanced at maps and I was like, Oh, quarter mile.

I go east quarter mile north east again.

I'm good.

This thing's coming at me at 60.

Joke was on me.

I didn't look at it close enough.

And when I

decided to bail, when I hit that north road, it was two miles, not a quarter mile north.

And that just that little type difference there.

I actually got hit.

uh, side swipe by is strong tornado in Oklahoma during a high risk last year.

Um, thankfully I managed to stay on the road and get out of it, but like I was getting almost blown off the road.

People behind me got blown into the ditch and we were getting hit with debris, but little things like that.

That's why it's very important to always have an escape route and how usually having a chase partner helps a lot with that, with that too.

Is it tough to get car insurance in your line of work?

No, because you don't technically tell him what you do.

I'm a weather man.

I don't make any claims.

I don't claim anything.

So when you say safe spot, or have an escape route, what is that?

You're in tornado alley.

You got a tornado.

You got to get your ass out of there.

Where are you going?

Yeah, so with tornadoes a little trick trick of the trade if you ever get caught in front of one Yeah, you can tell which direction they're moving if you stop and stare at them give them like five seconds That's moving left to right.

It's gonna cross likely in front of you.

That's moving right to left It's probably gonna cross behind you and if it's just getting bigger.

It's coming right at you.

So

In that situation, I always look at what my storm motion is on the day.

Is it moving northeast?

And I look at the road network and okay, if the tornado is going to be moving this way, how can I get out of the way?

And do I have an option to get out of the way?

Am I going to hit a dead end?

So there's a lot that goes into it into the moment while you're trying to look at a tornado.

That's a lot to read.

Conrad, you do write all that down.

Yeah.

It's

been

a while since I took a memo.

I

would panic if I had to go over notes in that situation.

I don't think I could do that.

Can we keep you through the news just for a few more minutes?

I'm really enjoying this.

I still have.

OK, so one more question for you before we have to do the news.

What is your day like?

Your storm chaser, that's the exciting part, but you do this full time.

What does full time mean?

What are you doing when there's no storms?

How much prep and what's that like?

So when there's no storms like right now, it's just pretty blah unless I want to go cover snow.

I'm

sitting at home probably going through a lot of my archive registering stuff with the copyright office.

And then I also work with severe studios.

And we manage everybody's copyright.

I broker video for media sales and all sorts of stuff there.

So I'm always trying to keep myself busy whether that's work.

So then when I do go out, I can go out and enjoy it.

Where can people follow you or where can they learn more about you?

Can you steer them somewhere here in just about 30 seconds?

Yeah, Storm Chaser, Jordan Hall on Facebook and YouTube.

And then Twitter is Jordan Hall WX.

OK, fantastic.

All right, Jordan Hall is here.

He's going to stick around for a few minutes, folks.

We're going to do the news.

We'll come back for act two and we'll read some of your texts.

Tonight's tonight's question is what?

Can you just not get into?

And you cannot say storm chasing.

We're coming right back for Act 2.

It's Pete Schwabba and Nightlight on the Civic Media Radio

Network.

Broadcasting live from the Civic Media Studios in Green Bay.

This is Night Light with Peach Wabba.

Your inside source on everything entertainment from Wisconsin to Hollywood.

And

now a guy who doesn't believe in sex after marriage, Peach Wabba.

Hey, welcome back.

Man, are we off to a great start here.

It is hour two of nightlight on this gorgeous Thursday night in, yeah, Chile, Wisconsin, but it's a glorious night.

We're talking about movies and TV and music and comedy and all the things we love and it is great to have you here.

Being part of it, folks, our question of the night.

Conn, why don't we reintroduce the question of the night?

Here's our nightlight question of the night.

Let's talk about the question.

Okay, question.

Question.

Question.

Pregunta.

Question.

Question.

Okay, I have a question.

Questions.

This question.

Domanda.

Question.

Questions.

What is something you just can't get into?

I say anime.

Conrad says he can't drink his alcohol neat.

Or read well, he can read he just doesn't get into reading like many of us these days since we have phones But let us know what you think 8 5 5 7 5 2 4 8 4 2 8 5 5 7 5 civic you can also text us on the app And if you are watching the radio on the stream drop us a stream comment at YouTube Facebook or X We have it is a popcorn

Pick night folks here Thursday Catherine Lake will be joining us at 635 to make the popcorn pick of the week Catherine does great work producing John and Gordy show in Madison and she is the one who put together that great Screening we had last week of my film the Godfather of Green Bay for the 20th anniversary at the Atwood Music Hall So we'll talk to Catherine at 635 and find out what her popcorn pick of the week is and then at 720 our pal rich Tallarico who is a key and P SNL

Key and Peel.

What's the matter?

See, I didn't talk at all today.

I was alone all day in my house.

It's like I'm warming up on the air.

That's not good.

Rich is a Key and Peel writer and has written for Saturday Night Live and Mad TV.

We'll talk about what is happening with the acting and writing unions and talk a little comedy with Rich, like we always do.

And we've got text to win in hour number three as well.

A new keyword.

Right now, I want to jump back into my...

My interview here with my current guest, Jordan Hall.

Jordan Hall is a storm chaser and he's got some great stories.

I'm really enjoying this discussion.

We have him just for a few more minutes here.

Jordan, we've got Bud on the stream said, he says, what's the most remarkable thing you've seen in a debris field around a tornado?

Cows?

I have not actually seen a cow go airborne yet, but I've seen

What's the craziest thing?

I mean, I obviously you see all the sheet metal and the insulation and stuff.

Um, I think one of the crazier and this is going to sound boring, but just hold it for a second.

So I have seen, obviously you see true branches and stuff, but, uh, in Newton, Georgia, two years ago down in Southern Georgia, I had a drone up on a big wedge tornado.

And I watched it yank a full size tree.

I'm talking like probably 50, 80 foot tall tree

straight

into the air and as a full tree and it wrapped it all the way around the tornado and spit it out like God knows how far.

So

that

was probably the most insane thing I've ever seen as a full tree.

Just yanked it right out of the ground.

That is really unbelievable.

Thank you, bud.

And then we've got Tyler from Wisconsin Rapids says, does Jordan dress like a football player and do a lot of zigzagging?

I would imagine if the if the circumstances weren't yeah.

All right, so let's let's talk about this in terms of like you said you earlier you grew up watching twister the movie and storm chasers with your dad and you became fascinated about this but at some point what are you hoping to accomplish what are you hoping to learn because I would imagine the curiosity

is equal to the excitement for you.

Like what do storm chasers hope to learn?

So every storm chaser is different.

I mean, you have some of them, I'll use read Timmer's example.

He's out there.

He wants to learn.

He's more research minded.

And then for me, I mean, every chaser is unique.

And for me, it's about seeing weather in its Ross form.

I love seeing weather.

I just love to see it.

I have gotten very good at capturing tornadoes extremely cinematically and capturing weather in ways of drones that most people don't get to see it.

And I think long term for me is just being able to find more unique ways to capture weather and bring it to the viewer and bring it to everybody to see and be able to appreciate it kind of like how I appreciate it.

That's great.

How how is this monetized?

Like how do you make money?

Is that how you do it?

I don't mean to get too personal You don't you're certainly

not obligated to

answer anything if it's uncomfortable But how do you who pays you for this?

Like do you sell videos or are you do you get grants from the government?

How do storm chasers operate like that?

So the best way to make money in storm chasing is selling video breaking news That's how I started that's how I got my upbringing with severe studios based at Wisconsin and it was just shooting

tornado video or basic b-roll video of Breaking weather and selling it to the weather channel or any of the big networks and then also nowadays with the with social media social media has been another way to make a lot of money so It all just comes down to the content, but also I think being very personable and Easy to talk to helps you a lot in that situations too.

That's so great.

I read that you chased

anywhere from 100 to 180 storms a year.

How does that, like, you must just drive constantly.

Yeah, I look at the storm prediction center, I look at long range forecasts, and if I see something that catches my attention, like, for example, right now, let's say I look at the models and it looks like, oh, there could be tornado potential down in Southwest Texas.

I'll probably roll out in two hours.

That's how quick I could turn it around.

I could be gone.

I've, uh, flown in the Philippines with a one hour, actually the Puerto Rico a few years ago, I flew there with like a two hour notice.

So, I mean, it's very spontaneous, but there's a lot of, uh, things you have to give up in that situation.

Like if I plan something out two weeks in advance, there's a chance I might not, might not be able to go there because there could be a tornado outbreak that day.

So it's very tricky.

So what talk a little bit about I know some of my civic media colleagues here Jamie set this interview up Corey Hartman.

I know you've worked with Corey.

What what have you learned from them?

They've been extremely helpful.

So they've been they've known me since I was a teenager

So I'm 28 years old now.

So they've been around for a while and they've helped me a lot.

Corey's helped me a lot with the business side.

Jamie's almost been like another mom.

She's just always, if you have a question, you can always go to Jamie and she'll give you the most blunt, honest answer.

And I love that.

But they've been super helpful.

They've taught me a lot of the business side and learning how to do the business side of things.

And

I've always been there for any emotional support or like any any ideas or just anything I need help with they're always there for so that's always been amazing.

Well they introduced they introduced me to you so I can't thank them enough this has been fun.

I just a couple more questions for you before we let you go is your how do your folks feel about this like your dad was obviously you said you come from a family of first responders you watch these shows with your dad are they do they worry about you or they kind of like go get them some.

So yeah my grandma's like

Worries about it.

She hates it.

She's like, I don't like knowing you're out there, but my dad, I'm trying to get my dad out to storm chase.

He wants to come.

He's, he actually was talking to me.

He wants to go to the Philippines with me one of these days to go chase one.

So he's one of my bigger supporters.

And then, uh, this year, I actually got to take my 13 year old little brother out on his first storm chase and got him within like 150 yards of a tornado in South Dakota.

And he had the time of his life.

It was amazing.

He was more excited than freaked out.

Oh, he had so much fun.

I look back because he's sitting in the back seat and he just had his phone just staring at him.

Oh my gosh.

He must have

totally trusted you.

Like a veteran.

Yeah.

He probably enjoyed it because of you.

So that's pretty cool.

Yeah.

One more storm related question.

You said recently, I read this article about you.

I think it was in the New York Post and you said, you say a storm is so dangerous and yet so beautiful all at the same time.

You never know what you're going to get.

I'm guessing the beauty of what you might see outweighs the danger or curiosity.

Would that be accurate or what did you mean by that statement?

So it's crazy because you look at a storm and it was a big tornado and it's one of the most beautiful things you've ever seen.

Like it's mesmerizing.

You can't take your eyes off it.

But at the same time, on the other side of it, you know it could be doing.

serious damage and possibly hurting people.

So it's one of the most beautiful but yet scary and sad things out there because you can't take your eyes off it and you hope it's not hitting anybody, but at the end of the day, it could be.

So that's kind of how I compared that.

Well, you're chasing your dream as well as storms.

So good for you, Jordan.

That's so great.

It's been great to meet you.

And last question, are you binge watching anything you could refer to our listeners?

I have been obsessed with land man on prime lately.

So that's been pretty fun to watch.

How's the second

season?

It's good.

I like it a lot.

Okay,

good.

I can't wait for that.

They've released it one episode a week.

So I'm just waiting till Saturday night again.

Yeah, those oil rigs seem about as dangerous as chasing storms at least what I saw in season one.

So yeah,

it's fun to watch.

Yeah.

Great stuff.

Thank you, sir.

It's been great to meet you and I hope we could do this again sometime.

Absolutely.

Thanks for having

me.

You got it.

All right.

That's Jordan Hall Go to if you haven't heard all this interview folks go to civic media dot US and download the podcast or listen to the podcast He is he was absolutely fascinating to talk to and love what he does.

I don't think I could do that Could you do that con chase storms?

No, I don't I don't think I have the the guts to do it

I don't have the guts and I don't have the money it sounds expensive like

He said he puts 100,000 miles a year in his car chasing storms.

That's crazy.

But good for him.

I'm glad he's out there because he was really fun to talk to.

So great stuff, Jordan Halt.

Catherine Lake coming up at 6.35, folks.

She's gonna make the popcorn pick of the week.

It is Thursday, and that means you are gonna leave here tonight, folks, with a movie pick.

So that will be exciting, and then we've got Rich Talarico, Key and Peele, an SNL writer coming up at 7.20.

We're gonna talk to him about something, a massive undertaking he is doing, trying to get things right in the universe when it comes to studios paying for their content, or when they share content on social media.

Lots of fun stuff to discuss with Rich.

Probably have a few laughs along the way as well.

And our question of the night is, what is something you just can't get into?

Monica from Mount Horrib says, I can't get into reality TV.

Great one, Monica.

That's a great one.

She says

I

one friend who went on and on about the bachelor show and I felt dumber She says I have another friend who loves sister wives and she gets mad at me because I tell her I don't care when she talks about it I tell her it gives me anxiety to hear about such idiocy That's a great one.

I can't I cannot get into reality.

You just don't see

something like worst in reality TV.

You just watch all is fair, too

All's fair.

That's scripted stupidity.

So there you go.

Listening on WAUK, Brett from Brown Deer says, two things I can't get into are horror flicks and country music.

Kind of with you there.

Although I like old country.

And you know, I like some new country, Conrad.

You know who our favorite country artist is on this show.

Kaylin Cole.

Kaylin Cole.

She's fantastic.

Matt from Middleton says, I giggle every time I fart.

Have been my

whole

49 years.

I think you're pretty normal, Matt.

We haven't done that yet.

We got it.

We have, all right, we're gonna do some fart talk when we come back.

We

found a really

funny video.

And then Lauren Holly, who was on the show last week, tweeted something today about Kelsey Grammer's gastrous habits.

So we'll talk about that, too.

Let's see, where else can we go here?

Let's do another text.

Tyler in Wisconsin Rapids.

Oh, this is interesting.