I've only had a front-row seat once to a tornado and the whole 'storm chaser' thing finally made sense. I was on I-70 near the KS/CO border and there were dozens of white weather vans chasing this thing that was meandering across the plains. I pulled off and watched with many of them from an overpass: those things really are quite mesmerizing if you have a mile or so of elbowroom between you and them. That said, I have no desire to live where they are commonplace.