Tempest Tours has become America's destination for seeing big storms up-close. Photo: Chris Gullikson.
Texas-based Tempest Tours Storm Chasing Expeditions announced today that bookings for 2025 are sold out, and tours for 2026 are booking quickly. The company's founder and CEO Martin Lisius, also a veteran storm chaser, said the stronger than normal interest in their product may be related to the release of two new films about storm chasing including "Twisters," a Hollywood movie that follows storm chasers as they track tornadoes, and "The Chasers of Tornado Alley: Touching the Sky," a documentary film written and directed by Lisius himself. "Typically, we would be almost sold out for 2025 at this point, but the additional interest in storm chasing generated by the two films probably has something to do with the accelerated bookings," he said. Tempest Tours started operations in 2001 with just a single van and three storm chasers. Over the years, it has grown and is now considered the premier storm chasing tour operator in America leading tours for guests from around the world, including well-known VIP's. Lisius attributes their success to their focus on safety and education saying "Our guests want to be safe and to learn about weather. Safety and education have always been our mission." Lisius understands the importance of both more than most as the chairman of the Texas Severe Storms Association, a non-profit organization dedicated to severe weather education and public safety. Lisius worked as a technical advisor on "Twister" (1996). And, Tempest Tours "Tornado Wrangler" T-shirts can be seen worn by storm chasers in the new movie "Twisters."