Stories From the Pews of Faith

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Members of Faith share personal experiences that highlight God's love, mercy and guidance.

Mark Stauber

There’s something to be said about the incredible courage of those who run toward danger when others quickly run away from it. Members of law enforcement do it. Firemen and other first responders do it. And Mark Stauber does it in the form of a daring storm chaser who calls storm chasing “a combination of adventure and excitement.”

That excitement is generated by a frightening package of powerful tornadoes, devastating winds, battering hail, crackling lightning and a level of unpredictability that can result in serious injury or worse. But for Stauber, who in no way equates what he does with the heroic efforts of first responders, this is an environment he totally embraces and enjoys the thrill of it.

Storm chasing, though, is a huge departure from his everyday work as an attorney who currently concentrates on residential and commercial real estate transactions. His entrance into the legal arena saw him follow in the footsteps of his father and older brother, beginning with studying political science at Loyola University Chicago before he attended John Marshall Law School. He says it’s the ability to help people that has made practicing law so appealing.

With his legal career on a solid foundation, Stauber decided to cash in on a longtime fascination and jumped feet-first into storm chasing 10 years ago. Even before the 1996 movie “Twister” further popularized storm chasing, Stauber already had an interest in participating, but he realized there’s so much more to chasing storms than piling into a van and getting up close and personal with severe weather. There’s the need for preparation––and a lot of it.

The adventurous attorney didn’t really get involved until he discovered that the College of DuPage (COD) has one of the premier storm-chasing programs in the country. In its meteorology classes (which include field studies), participants learn about a wide range of important elements such as atmosphere, isobars, forecasts, temperature, dew point, wind speed and wind direction to create weather maps. That information allows them to determine the areas with the greatest propensity for severe and tornadic weather. “After we compile that information and are on location, we watch the storm on radar and chase it,” says Stauber, referring to the routine employed during the eight chases he has done with COD representatives and classmates in places such as Texas, Wyoming and Mississippi. “If you’re out in the open plains and know the direction the storm is going, you go parallel to the storm. We try to keep a respectful distance from it, but there are others who want to be right up in it. No! This thing will kill you! You can see what’s happening a mile away, and that’s a pretty good spot.”

Each storm has its own signature so even with the utmost preparation and attention to detail, there can be––and have been––close calls for Stauber, whose most recent storm-chasing event was in April. Five years ago, he remembers, a particularly scary encounter developed in Canton, Texas, just east of Dallas. He and his team had seen one dangerous tornado on radar and then quickly noticed that another one had formed, receded, formed again, and was coming toward them. That second tornado sideswiped them within 500 yards of their vans. Both tornadoes turned into EF-4s with wind speeds between 166 and 200 miles per hour. Stauber’s group escaped injury, but the tornadoes killed seven townspeople.

Even that close call and others haven’t deterred this storm chaser. At 72, Stauber––a man who loves a sip of bourbon, a good cigar and the taste of Texas barbecue––knows that many observers view storm chasing as a “You’re just asking for it” kind of activity. And he understands the reactions of people who exclaim, “You do what?!” when they learn about the storm-chasing part of his life. But on the other hand, he lights up when people respond with “That’s so cool!”

The art of storm chasing has created differences of opinion since its emergence in the mid-1950s. Most people still focus primarily on the possible dangers associated with storms that can rip a huge tree from its roots. Voluntarily putting oneself in the midst of that kind of destruction is something many people have trouble understanding. Stauber respects those thoughts but sees things a bit differently. “As long as you respect the power of nature and know how to protect yourself, it [storm chasing] is relatively safe,” he says. “Sometimes the biggest danger is the negligence of other drivers [sometimes dozens of them] who are chasing the same storm. We’re probably safer out in the middle of nowhere with a tornado forming than people are who are living in a town and there’s a tornado coming at them.”

So if finding himself surrounded by deadly storms doesn’t frighten the Faith member of almost 40 years, what is it then that he avoids because of his fears? Without hesitation, he says no one would catch him sightseeing from the Willis Tower’s Skydeck Ledge, a glass balcony extending four feet outside the building’s 103rd floor. And skydiving is out of the question, too. “It’s something I’d never do because it’s terrifying to me,” he says. “But I also think it would be the ultimate rush. It’s fear versus excitement.”

For now, the excitement of storm chasing is enough for Stauber, who recently celebrated his 45th wedding anniversary with his wife Sally. He’s already looking forward to his ninth trip with the friends and COD officials who joined him on the previous trips. Meanwhile, he continues to educate and prepare himself for anything the future storms might throw his way.

And for those who still might not understand the attraction of storm chasing and why Stauber does what he does, he explains it succinctly: “The power of nature is a beautiful and fascinating thing.”

​​Stories From the Pews of Faith

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Stories From the Pews of Faith