Our History

In 2011, when Jared Stevenson began storm chasing, he had the idea to begin a private research based operation for severe weather. Initially dubbed Project: RECON (Recording Extreme COnditions in Nature), Jared equipped his vehicle with consumer grade weather stations and was able to report real-time data from in and around thunderstorms to local National Weather Service Offices.

In 2013, Jared met Blaize Edwards, and their shared passion for storm chasing propelled the slowly forming team to new levels. Equipped with basic instruments, the team recorded a wind gust of 117mph during their harrowing escape from the El Reno, Oklahoma tornado on May 31st, 2013. This experience profoundly changed both Jared and Blaize. After facing off with the devastating power of Mother Nature, coupled with the loss of Tim Samaras, Paul Samaras, and Carl Young of TWISTEX, the duo rapidly began conceiving of how to better research tornadoes and severe weather. 

In 2014, they funded their first tornado intercept probe, which they intended to deploy into the path of tornadoes and gather data from inside and near the vortex. Unfortunately, from a research perspective, the 2014 storm season was extremely below average, and the probe did not see it's first deployment until the following year. 

In 2015, Jared and Blaize teamed up with Nick Stewart, now an Emmy winning Meteorologist in Florida. Nick, who had similar goals in regards to researching thunderstorms, founded The S.P.E.C.T.R.A. Initiative, or SuPErCell Thunderstorm Research and Analysis. Along with other chasers from across the country, S.P.E.C.T.R.A. saw the first deployments of Jared and Blaize's tornado intercept probe, as well as Nick's 'Sticknet' deployable MESONETS. While the team did not score any direct hits by tornadoes, the data and experience they gained gave them all a realistic perspective of the challenges faced when trying to put scientific instruments in the path of tornadoes. 

In 2016, Evan Coverdill joined the team full time. Evan, an aviation and weather enthusiast, brought a level head and a new perspective to chasing. The trio would chase together for the 2016 and 2017 seasons before finally deciding to formally create a team. Initially, the venture was from a business perspective, and SigTor Storm Chasing Tours was founded. SigTor gave the team invaluable business lessons as well as experience in operating professionally together. 

Finally, in late 2018, the three decided that a tour business was not in their best interest, and thus, CONVEX was at last founded. A new probe was engineered by their friend and fellow storm chaser Randy Hicks. Jared's childhood friend, Jonathan Egbert, designed the computer used in the probe, which records pressure, temperature and humidity. Additionally, while chasing in Kansas in 2019, the team met up with meteorologist and storm chaser Justin Yerina. Justin added much needed educational experience and chemistry to the group, and joined CONVEX shortly after.  CONVEX successfully deployed their new probe in the path of the Mangum, Oklahoma tornado in May of 2019, and the probe sat just 700 feet from the core of the tornado. The probe would see it's first core of a tornado in Selden, Kansas in May of 2021, recording data and video from inside the vortex! 

After a tumultuous ending to their 2021 chase season, the team convened and discussed what was working and what wasn't, and decided on a 'back to basics' approach. While they recognize that the research and scientific aspect of chasing is important, the most important thing to everyone was getting out and enjoying nature. They chase because it's a passion for them, and at the end of the day, that's what is most important.

In 2022, three more EOS turtle probes were fabricated and used in multiple chases throughout the United States, including their first dual deployment on a strong EF-2 tornado in Iowa! While there were no direct intercepts in 2022, we gained valuable experience in deploying multiple probes on the same storm.

2023 proved to be a quiet and difficult year for CONVEX. The team only encountered one tornado, and did not have a viable deployment opportunity. Discussions were had on how to best approach future operations, and an idea began to grow for a brand new probe...

2024 has been an extremely active year so far, but the team has yet to chase together as a unit. However, 2024's operations timeframe is rapidly approaching, and after over a year of hard work, we are thrilled to introduce our new tornado probe, TOWER!