TSSI was founded by Jeff Draper in 1993. After chasing on his own on & off since 1980, he realized the need for a serious commitment that went beyond being a Skywarn Spotter. Spotters are ham radio operators who are taught basic severe weather information and sit at a given location and report conditions at there location. With a network of spotters stationed in an area, a Net Control station can take reports and determine activity, and relay this to a media person to accumulate and broadcast pertinent information to the public. (Please note: this is not an introduction to spotting site, and the opinions expressed here at times are in response to recent media exposure of people they portray as chasers, but are merely ameteur photographers, contributing nothing but traffic congestion and a bad name to the chasing community. If this sounds negative, sorry. This site covers chasing, and is not an intro to beginners spotting. We have done this for years and take it very seriously, and the public extremely needs to be aware of this and differentiate between the two.)

Chasing involves a similar aspect, but as a mobile unit, that will go to where weather is forming, and then travel along ahead of it, and sometimes in it due to lack of road options, and give continuous reports. Chasers are required to be much more knowledgeable of Meteorology terms and conditions, as well as an ongoing ability to forecast on their own. Over time, if done properly, they will gain a knowledge level that will allow them to become self sufficient, doing their own forecasting from upper air maps and numerous other forecast tools. They will then choose a "target area" where they think severe weather will break out, and either wait there for things to start happening, or "intercept" the storm at a given location if it breaks out faster than expected. Such can often be the case in Texas.

Storms can often fire up with little to no notice, and achieve severe levels within minutes. These storms can be very dangerous, and one must be extremely knowledgeable of weather and forecast conditions, as well as visual and radar traits, and the ability to read them and determine what to do and where to go. Such was a hard lesson for Jeff in 1980, when he rolled into Cedar park at 1:00AM, and discovered (unbeknownst until later) that there was a night time supercell occuring, and it was producing softball sized hail (4-5") that was destroying vehicles, power lines, home roofs, and numerous other damage. It was a very memorable event to say the least.

So, in 1993, TSSI was formed, after years of studying and learning by observing in a safe manner. Initially there were 3 members, but as interest grew, and Jeff relocated several times, he eventually met the right people, became a ham radio operator, and formed the strong team that is known and respected as it is today. TSSI currently has 10 qualified storm chasers, and 2 Meteorologists, referred to as SWAT members (Severe Weather Assistance Team). The team is known by many media outlets, local- city- county- and state law enforcement, numerous National Weather Service offices, and the Austin Office of Emergency Management.

TSSI has also had photos, video, and articles used in most local media outlets, The Weather Channel documentaries, and the Discovery Channel, as well as photos purchased by a motion picture company, which used them as background wall photos in a recent movie. (Please note, these were sought out and requested by the media entities, and not promoted by us) We are currently working on scientific experiments that could help with "seeing" what is occuring within a storm from a nearby location, supported by radar and observations. This library of information that will be gathered will also help increase warning times to the public, hopefully saving lives.