Chasing storms on the prairies: How a Manitoba woman's passion was born out of fear

Mylène Mercier used to hide in her house when thunder rumbled. Then, she started chasing storms to face her fears. Now, her storm hunts have become a passion. 

It's June 7, 2020: dark clouds are threatening southeastern Manitoba. 

As Environment Canada issues severe weather alerts and everyone tries to get back home and away from the weather, Mercier jumps into her car. 

The mother of two checks different radars and drives to Tolstoi, a small southern Manitoba community close to the Minnesota border. Her phone shows four storms in the area. 

At some points, the rain is so heavy that she has to stop. Thunder rolls. The only things visible through her windshield are flashes from the sky.

In her car, Mercier is euphoric.

She usually stays far from storms, to appreciate their beauty while staying safe. This time, though, Mercier got stuck between two of these thunderstorms. When it happens, the best thing to do is go through one of them, she says.

"I could not drive any more, in case a tree hit me," torn down by the wind, Mercier said in an interview in French. 

"A friend called … and I told her: 'If you could imagine! It's raining, but sunny at the same time. The sky is red,'" she said.

"For me, it was just … wow."

3 tornadoes in 5 years 

Despite her passion for storms, past experiences Mercier with tornadoes still leave her rattled.

In Alberta in 2010, a tornado "just crossed the road where I was [driving]," said Mercier, who has lived in Manitoba for a year.

"I was really, really shaken. I got so scared I cried for two days after that. My car was really damaged."

In Ontario in 2014, a tornado in the town of Angus destroyed her neighbourhood, but fortunately not her family house. 

A year later, Mercier again encountered a tornado, while driving with her daughter, who is now six years old, and her mother. 

"it was a small one, but still enough to say, 'we close our eyes and wait,'" Mercier said. 

"This time we were not hit, but it's the kind of thing you remember your entire life."

After that, something changed: instead of being afraid of storms, Mercier tried to learn more about them.

Now, she loves the adrenaline she gets while chasing.  

"It makes me step out of my work and my daily life as a mother", said Mercier, who works as a teaching assistant at Collège Louis Riel in Winnipeg.

A passion to be shared 

Jordan Carruthers, the founder of Manitoba Storm Chasers, says trying to overcome fear is one of the main reasons why people join tours his company offers. 

"There are also just the ones that are really passionate about the weather and want to go experience it, but do not have the knowledge to go out, do it themselves and stay safe," said Carruthers.

Carruthers himself has always been interested in weather, but became fascinated by storms in 2007, after seeing the damage done by an F-5 tornado in Elie, Man., not far from where he lives in Portage la Prairie. 

Carruthers now chases storms for a living, beginning each season in April. He says every trip is a new experience, which has kept him motivated all these years. 

"It's kind of never the same two storms in a row," Carruthers said. "You can go out expecting one thing and then something changes in the atmosphere and you get something either way better than you're expecting, or just different."

In most years, from May to September, he says about 75 to 100 people join him on trips, coming from Manitoba to Alberta, and the northern United States. 

"There's definitely a lot of repeats. I usually take three to four people at a time. There's usually one to two of those who are new people," Carruthers said.  

'Sold on the Prairies' 

Meanwhile, Mercier is following her passion mostly on her own. Her friends and colleagues are awed when they see storm pictures she brings back from her chases, but most of them are afraid to join her. 

"My son came one time. He could not understand why I was doing that. That day, he realized it is possible to stay far from a storm, be safe, while appreciating its beauty," Mercier said. 

Recently, the mother of two children created the Facebook page MYZ Storm (in French) to get other people interested in the natural phenomena. She publishes pictures, videos and anecdotes from her chases and invites cloud lovers to join her. 

Originally from Quebec, Mercier has admired skies in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia. According to her, the best storms are definitely in Manitoba. 

"The way clouds and structures move is way more impressive here, probably because the ground is flat. I've been sold on the Prairies."

An earlier version of this story was published in French by Radio-Canada. Click here to read the French version.