(RALEIGH)— It’s a hobby for some, a profession for a chosen few. Stormchasing is a thrilling and sometimes dangerous activity that entails tracking weather patterns by satellite, radar and other weather technologies, predicting and mapping areas of extreme turbulence and getting to the area just before the storm hits.

Dramatic images by professional storm chaser and weather photographer Jim Reed are now on display in the ‘Powers of Nature’ special exhibit at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. Six photographs add a new dimension to the exhibit during its final weeks. Locally sponsored by Progress Energy, “Powers of Nature” completes its four-month run at the Museum on Feb. 16, 2003.

Being near the powers of nature is enough to justify the expense and time for many storm chasers. Others become intrigued by the complexity of weather patterns and thrive on the time-sensitive detective work needed to predict the mercurial behavior of a storm. Reed was drawn to severe weather by the challenge of capturing on film the human emotional response to the majesty and power of nature at the extremes.

“I believe it’s essential to photograph a storm in such a way that, once an image is published or exhibited, the viewer relives the emotion I felt,” said Reed.

Each year, Reed covers extreme weather from California to North Carolina, Texas to Canada. During hurricane season (August through November), he is based in South Carolina, and added the ongoing drought to his list of photo assignments for 2002. By December, he knows about the big weather picture—the extent of El Nino, rainfall patterns—to predict where the weather stories will be each spring. Then Reed travels to Wichita, Kan., for tornado and thunderhead season.

Traveling in a road-seasoned Ford Explorer packed with weather-tracking paraphernalia and specialized camera equipment, Reed has documented blizzards, droughts, ice storms, lightning, floods and tornadoes across North America. He is the only photojournalist to have penetrated the eye of four consecutive major hurricanes. North Carolina’s own Hurricane Fran was his first professional shoot.

On April 11, 2002, Reed and photo assistant Katie Bay documented a rare, long-track landspout tornado in central Kansas from inside their car as they drove in reverse to escape the tornado’s fury. Their dramatic video footage of the tornado was broadcast on network and cable news nationwide. Reed’s photographs have been published widely in The New York Times, U.S. News and World Report and other periodicals.

In the “Powers of Nature” special exhibition, see Reed’s images of lightning, hail, tornadoes and thunderstorms in context with the science behind natural disasters—how natural forces unleash their fury and how these forces affect our lives. Experience nature’s strength through more than 50 interactive exhibits, video presentations and real artifacts that give witness to the might of natural forces. Fly into the eye of a hurricane from the cockpit of a real storm-chasing plane. Touch a plasma tube and observe how you attract electricity or marvel at a six-foot “tornado in a tank.” Try your hand at forecasting with a computer weather game. Hear personal stories of people who have survived natural disasters.

“Powers of Nature” was designed and developed by The Franklin Institute Science Museum for the Science Exhibit Museum Collaborative, and funded by the National Science Foundation, Science Museum Exhibit Collaborative, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Federal Emergency Management Agency and Day & Zimmermann, Inc.

Admission to view Reed’s photography is free. To learn more about Reed, please visit www.jimreedphoto.com. Admission to “Powers of Nature” is $5 for adults, $3 for children 4-11 and for seniors over 60 (free for Friends of the Museum and children 3 and under).