During the spring, as thunderclouds form and twisters charge across the Kansas plains, you can find Dr. Jason Persoff in his 2014 Kia Sorento.
With him, an iPad and ham radio. He’s chasing tornadoes, his springtime hobby for the past 25 years.
When the chill of winter quiets the air, he chases another natural phenomenon in his backyard: snowflakes.
Persoff — or “storm doctor” as he’s known — is a tornado chaser, hospitalist, snowflake photographer and, at one point, stand-up comic. He’s earned international recognition for his work with weather, from capturing the minute intricacies of ice crystals to funnel clouds that tower over Mount Everest.
“When I’m connected to nature on such an intimate level it’s a practice of mindfulness and gratitude,” said Persoff, a physician at the University of Colorado Hospital in Aurora. “I can get caught up in stress just like anybody else, and these processes slow me down, give me space to be a kid, to just sit there in fascination.”
Persoff has been storm chasing since the mid-1990s, having been fascinated by severe weather since he was a child growing up in Aurora. During those early days, he would chase with his wife, Irma Persoff, around the Denver metro area. That’s when he coined his “storm doctor” nickname.