Before landfall

Moving with the wind

From whether to chase a storm, which city to land in and which route to take, to which spot to set up and record, Su and his partners have to continuously make quick decisions in the 24 hours before a storm occurs.

Once a storm starts forming, they follow its growth and movement on radar and discuss whether to chase it or not.

The decision is usually made a day before whether the mission is a "go". Once decided, Su and his partners draw a circle on the route map that covers the location they predict will be the center of the storm and find the nearest city.

When Su and his partners arrive in a city, they usually rent a car and buy some fast food en route to their designated recording spot.

Besides cameras and drones, they also bring a small sensor array — built by Su — that can capture up-to-the-second data pertaining to temperature, wind speed, atmospheric pressure and dew point, as well as transmit that data in real time.