Who we are:
Nick Elms and Amanda Hill
Nick Elms
Nick grew up in St Anthony Village, a small suburb northeast of Minneapolis in Minnesota. It is here where his passion and love for all things weather began.
Back in the early 1980′s, growing up as a young child, several rounds of severe storms would hit the Twin Cities each summer. These storms which striked great fear into me, and I would hide in the basement until the storms have passed each time. Then, an early spring Tornado hit St. Anthony Village and NE Minneapolis very close to our home impacting the lives of many we knew. After witnessing this storm and the aftermath that it caused, I then began to turn my fear for severe weather and tornado’s into a striving for understanding and a passion to learn about how and why these storms occur. Ever since then, I have been studying and tracking severe weather from my childhood to the present day.
I have also given back to the community through public service and reaching out to others to understand these severe storms as a Skywarn Storm Spotter as well as a Certified Skywarn Trainer in Minnesota. I have taught several many classes cross the Twin Cities Metro area, as well as out state Minnesota. In fact in 2009, I was awarded the Minnesota Skywarn Volunteer of the Year award for outstanding service and commitment to the local Skywarn Program.I also have been featured in multiple radio, television and print stories and programs regarding severe storms and tornadoes.
We are also proud to be streaming live video as we track severe storms and tornadoes across the Northern Plains and Upper Midwest. We hope to see many of you out across the country as we track these forces of Nature, but if not please follow along with us on our chase cam! See our home page for viewing our chase cam when we are live on the chase!
I am also a licensed Amatuer Radio Operator with call sign WX0SVR.you can contact me by: nick @ prairiewindchasers.com
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Amanda Hill
Amanda grew up in the far western portion of Minnesota – in a small rural prairie town of Chokio. My love of severe weather came when the storms rolled through the backyard from the Dakota’s. I studied many weather books and kept logs as a kid. I was fascinated in counting lighting strikes to find out how far away the storm was from the home. I was very fascinated with tornadoes back then as well.
When I was around 12 or so, my Dad and I witnessed a rope tornado to our northeast of the farm. I can still remember that afternoon when Dad called me over to watch the tornado, small in size, come out as an elephant trunk and touch the ground. This is my first tornado that I can recall. Of course I have no pictures of it, but to this day I can still remember it. I do not remember the year, but I believe this tornado was only an EF-0, doing not much if any at all, damage.
I am also a licensed Amateur Radio Operator with the call sign KD0DWS. I am also a trained Certified Skywarn Instructor as well as a trained Certified Skywarn Spotter. We, Nick and I, have been featured in the past couple of years in newspaper articles in regards to sever weather and skywarn training. You can view our articles here on our webpage at .
I also love photography! Besides capturing the awesomeness of a storm, I have taken photographs for Seniors, Weddings, Baby, Family, Wildlife, etc. If you are interested in my work, see my page: Amanda’s Photography on Facebook. Contact me if you are interested in having me take photos for you!
You can contact me by: amanda @ prairiewindchasers.com
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