Storm chasers capture terrifying storm with Mavic 2 Pro

If there were a Ten Commandments for drones, thou shalt not fly in winds and thou shalt not fly in rains would be near the top. But unless someone transgressed, we’d never have these pictures of a nor’easter smashing the Atlantic coast. Storm chasers captured the terrifying storm with a DJI Mavic 2 Pro.

The U.S. National Weather Service anticipated “the classic nor’easter” would drop as much as a foot of snow in the Boston, Massachusetts area last week.

“That causes hazardous road conditions,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Rob Megnia, told the Boston Herald. “If you have plans to travel, avoid doing so if you can.”

Those words are like a starting pistol for companies like Live Storms Media. Owner and meteorologist Brett Adair told us in an email that he chases storms across the US and even internationally, “if it’s worth it.” The weather brought his photographer, Brandon Clement, to Scituate ( pronounced “situate”) just southeast of Boston. He found the ocean threatening to wash away homes along the town’s peninsula.

“We were flooded. It wrecked the garage, the utility room, the washer-drier,” resident Mary Colleen Murphy told the storm chasers. “It’s a pretty cool place to live.”

The hardiness of the residents is impressive and so are the rooves of their homes. But what about the drone? It’s written right there in the DJI Mavic 2 Pro manual: Do not use the aircraft in severe weather conditions, including wind speeds greater than 10 m/s snow, rain, or fog. The weather office expected 50 mph winds along the coast or about 23 m/s. And yet there’s some nice smooth camera work there, and the drone doesn’t seem the least bothered or buffeted.

Storm chasers capture terrifying storm

Typically, drone shots of serious storms are all aftermath. Pilots just don’t want to risk their aircraft. But that doesn’t seem to be the case with Live Storms Media. “There was no damage at all to the drone,” writes Adair. “As we have done these kinds of flights on many occasions.”

He pointed us to a few of his videos. The aftermath of Hurricane Zeta in Louisiana last fall and this stunning 360 degree shot around a tornado in Texas. Check out more of his work on his Live Storms Media Youtube channel.