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StormPursuit
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Hello, and thank you for visiting my storm observing and chasing website. My name is Paul Stofer, and I am an avid severe weather enthusiast. I am from Dallas, Texas. When it comes to weather it all started when I was a kid. Severe storms and lightning fascinated me. Around the age of 12 I began to watch storms on TV and go outside to observe them and compare them to what was being shown on television. Whenever storms rolled in, I would be the first one in the family to turn on The Weather Channel and then run outside to watch the storms move in. I would always listen to the storm spotters on the scanner relaying weather information back to the National Weather Service. Having a passion for severe weather is an understatment. I began searching the internet for weather related essays, reading lots of books and watching lots of storm videos. One afternoon (when I was 14 or so) I was online and I ran into a Meteorology student (Eric Nguyen) whom was attending the University of Oklahoma. Eric turned into one of my best friends. Eric pretty much became my weather mentor. He was very patient with me and he showed me the science behind weather and storm chasing. He also taught me about mobile data gathering and how all the instrumentation and sensors worked. I learned much from him, and I apply all I know about instrumentation into my weather equipment I use today. Sadly Eric passed away, but you can read about Eric on my Tribute Page. In the 90s the movie Twister came out, which even though it was a far fetched Hollywood movie, it still fed my interest. I finally got my dad involved in my weather hobbies. Before I got my driver license he would take me to the NOAA open house in Norman and help feed my interest, as well as cart me around to observe severe weather in the area. Finally, I turned 16 and applied what I had learned from Eric on mobile atmospheric data gathering and storm chasing, and with his help I assembled a mobile weather station for my vehicle. I began chasing in 2001 and have been observing storms ever since. After I graduated from High School I took some Meteorology courses in College. I focus chasing mainly in Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Colorado; however, I have ventured to Montana and Wyoming. When I turned 12 I got my SCUBA diver certification from NAUI, and since then I have gotten my Advanced and NITROX diver certifications and have traveled to the Cayman Islands on multiple occasions, Cozumel, and Jamaica. In March of 2003 I got my amateur radio license and was issued the call sign KD5VQP. Once I gained my license, I joined Dallas County Emergency Management. In November of 2006, I got hired by the Dallas Transit Police as a Police Officer. I realized that this wasn't exactly what I wanted to do, and that severe weather and photography was my calling in life. I wrapped up school and graduated from the Connecticut School of Broadcasting as valedictorian in 2007. In December of 2007 I got hired by KOKI-TV FOX23 News in Tulsa as a News Photographer / live truck operator and storm chaser then subsquently by KDAF-TV and KTXD-TV in Dallas. Since then I became a full-time News Photojournalist for KDFW-TV FOX 4 in Dallas. I'm a prior Corporal / E4 in the Texas Guard. Currently, I am a Storm Chaser for KDFW-TV FOX 4 in Dallas, as well as a FireFighter / Paramedic for the City of Parker, Texas, I also own and operate a full High-Definition Production company, Fully Involved Productions and work with JS&A Fire and Safety. |
