The interest in storm chasing and meteorology has grown exponentially over the last several decades. Yet, outside of formal education or YouTube Meteorologists and/or Chasers, there are very few ways for the average population to interact with and understand the weather that impacts their day-to-day lives.

WXCAT is born out of a deep-rooted passion for meteorology and an acknowledgment that as a weather community, we need to be more than what we are. As a storm-chasing community, we’re interacting with thousands of people, streaming to even more, and yet we’re all operating mostly independently and all of that data is being lost. The first step, and by far the most important one, is a collaborative database. It’s not about ego, its about saving lives. It’s not about chasing the storm to have that thrill, its about doing more than taking videos and planning the next hunt. I want to see us improve warning times, update models, change how we approach weather forecasting. That’s the dream.

The second step is building the experience. An interactive museum that encourages creative thought processes, identifies weather-related topics, and encourages individual involvement regardless of age or education.

The third part of this project is to support the extended weather community - individual meteorologists, storm chasers, those committed to learning more about the world we live in, and creating new opportunities to expand funding.