When the skies come to life: A year of Storm Chasing

By Rebecca Lewis @RebeccaSLewis

DOUBLE tornadoes, lightning storms and rotating supercells – this is what it's like to chase storms for a year

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Videographer / Director: Roger Hill

Producer: Nick Johnson

Editor: Joshua Douglas

A supercell with the potential to turn into a tornado produces lightning and baseball sized hail

Hailstones the size of golfballs from a severe thunderstorm, in Wichita Falls, Texas.

The structure of a severe thunderstorm can be plainly seen. The spaceship look is because the storm is strongly rotating and potentially tornadic, in Henrietta, Texas.

Lightning strikes during a supercell thunderstorm, as the sky turns purple, in Colorado.

Two tornadoes of EF4 intensity - the second most violent classification - are pictured wreaking havoc and destruction, in Pilger, Nebraska

A tornado begins to dissipate and starts to resemble a rope, on June 18, 2014, in Woonsocket South Dakota

A dramatic hailstorm rolls over fields in South Dakota.

Two rainbows emerge from a black storm above the mountains, in Kingman, Arizona.

A shelf cloud advances over a field of wheat in Colorado.

These dramatic images show apocalyptic weather throughout 2014 from a lightning storm to a pair of rainbows.

Roger Hill, 57, has been chasing storms in the United States for thirty years and runs a tour operation with his wife Caryn.

Despite his experience, there are occasions where Mother Nature gets the better of the seasoned photographer.

His favourite photograph of the year was also one of the most difficult to get – as two violent tornadoes tore through Pilger, Nebraska on June 16.

A dramatic hailstorm rolls over hills in South Dakota.

The spiraling winds killed a five-year-old girl and injured at least 19 others, and as Roger tried to get the perfect shot debris began to rain down on his car.

He said: “We stayed with it until so much damage had occurred that we had to call off the rest of our chase.

At times we had debris falling on the vehicle and were buffeted with winds of 100mph as the tornadoes ripped across the countryside.

“There is always an inherent risk chasing storms. It’s my job to make sure we stay out of harms way and always have an escape route. But sometimes the unexpected does happen and you always have to be ready for it.”

Armed with several vehicles, a Doppler radar, wifi and a connection to weather stations, Roger and his wife Caryn travel the country in search of the best storms.