A License? For Storm Chasing?

We're tracking Oklahoma Senate Bill 158. It would license professional storm chasers in the Sooner State.

Oklahoma is known for being a great spot for storm chasing. But is there about to be a change in the weather?

Oklahoma State Senator Mark Mann (D) has introduced the Oklahoma Emergency Weather Response and Tracking Regulatory Act of 2025 into the legislative session.

The bill would license official storm chasers, and give them special license - literally - on the roads.

But not just anyone can get a license.

What Does Oklahoma Senate Bill 158 Do?

Let’s break it down. The bill would:

· Create a class of Professional Severe Weather Trackers (PSWTs) - I made up that acronym.

· The only way to become a PSWT is with the backing of an FCC-regulated major media outlet or an institute of higher education.

· Service Oklahoma (government bureaucracy) will create and issue the licenses.

PSWTs must:

· Keep their license on file with their major media sponsor, or educational institution, whichever applies.

· Display their PSWT number and sponsor number on their vehicle.

· Pass a criminal background check (What does it mean to pass? The law doesn’t say.)

· Submit a letter to Service Oklahoma from the chief meteorologist or educational pooh-bah that the PSWT has the “knowledge, experience, and training” needed to be a responsible PSWT.

· Provide a copy of motor vehicle insurance for their chasing vehicle.

· Pay a $500 initial licensing fee and a $250 annual renewal fee. (These fees are designated to administering the law.)

Oklahoma Storm Chasers Emergency Lights

If the bill passes, licensed storm chasers could install and use emergency flashing lights on their vehicles. The lights must comply with Oklahoma Statutes § 47-12-218. Others on the roads would have to yield and stop for them.

Storm chasers could only use their emergency lights during a significant weather event, which is defined in the law.

About the Oklahoma Severe Weather Tracker Bill

Licenses are subject to suspension or revocation for violations.

The bureaucracy would have rule making authority. This means they can add to the law for the purposes of administering it.

What Do We Think?

The first thought I have is – are storm chasers really that bad that Oklahoma needs to regulate them? It is one of the best places in the world to go storm chasing, so maybe.

I’d like to hear from professional and amateur storm chasers alike whether they think the regulation is necessary. Have their been traffic accidents or near misses that brought attention to this issue?

Live Storm Chasers has this to say about it:

I don’t see in the law that there is a penalty that can be issued for reckless behavior, like they are saying. (Someone correct me if I’m wrong.) Surely it would be a part of the administrative regulations, but good intentions are not enforceable. If they insist on going forward with this law, lawmakers need to make sure it has teeth - that reckless behavior can be punished. The law should prohibit reckless driving but also include other reckless behavior that might happen while storm chasing. Oklahoma has reckless driving laws, which apply to everyone, and could be enforced.

Would amateur storm chasers be banned?

I don’t see that amateurs can’t continue to storm chase. The law doesn’t ban them. They just can’t pay a fee and go flashing lights like the people who work for the regulated outlets would be able to.

There are two sides – on the one hand, professional licensing is a good thing, sometimes. Most of us don’t do a ton of research about what doctor we choose, for example. If they’re licensed, and practicing in the specialty we need, we’re quick to entrust our well being to them, perhaps more than we ought to be.

Sometimes, professional licensing doesn’t go far enough. I think it’s way too easy to become a lawyer in Michigan, for example. Lawyers become judges, and when they don’t have the logic skills, they tend to decide the outcome based on emotion, and then work backwards to fit the law to it. But that’s a whole other post.

On the other hand, professional licensing is gatekeeping. Why should Jack get to go flashing lights and make all the amateurs stop for him just because he has the inns with the chief at the local TV station (are local TV stations even going to have meteorologists for that much longer?) when Jill doesn’t have the connection. Jill might be much more knowledgeable in the law, have a better vehicle and be a better driver. The law outsources the gatekeeping to third parties (TV stations and educational organizations), with no exam, test or other possibility for an outsider to prove their mettle.

One way to address some of these concerns would be to have the organization that vouched for the person – the TV station or educational institution – also fined or otherwise held accountable. My guess is, management wouldn’t allow chief meteorologists to hand out recommendations willy nilly.

What do you think? Storm tracker licenses? Really? What will they think of next?