Mike Theiss (born April 22, 1978) is a National Geographic photographer, on air talent, video producer, professional storm chaser. He is the CEO/Founder of Ultimate Chase Inc. that specializes in extreme

nature photography Nature photography is a wide range of photography taken outdoors and devoted to displaying natural elements such as landscapes, wildlife, plants, and close-ups of natural scenes and textures. Nature photography tends to put a stronger emphasis o ...

. His work has been published in '' National Geographic'' magazine numerous times for displaying

hurricanes A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, altho ...

es,

lightning Lightning is a naturally occurring electrostatic discharge during which two electrically charged regions, both in the atmosphere or with one on the ground, temporarily neutralize themselves, causing the instantaneous release of an avera ...

volcano A volcano is a rupture in the Crust (geology), crust of a Planet#Planetary-mass objects, planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and volcanic gas, gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Ear ...

es, and other rare nature events.

Career

Theiss started storm chasing in 1986 in Key Largo, Florida and now chases worldwide. In 2004, Theiss captured one of the highest wind gusts ever recorded on video inside Hurricane Charley with an estimated wind gust over 155 mph in Charlotte Harbor, Florida. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) used his

barometric pressure Atmospheric pressure, also known as barometric pressure (after the barometer), is the pressure within the atmosphere of Earth. The standard atmosphere (symbol: atm) is a unit of pressure defined as , which is equivalent to 1013.25 millibars, 7 ...

reading of 942 mb (hPa) inside Hurricane Charley's eye in their final report as the official lowest pressure recorded by a handheld barometer during Charley. In 2005, Theiss captured the highest storm surge on video during Hurricane Katrina in

Gulfport, Mississippi Gulfport is the second-largest city in Mississippi after the state capital, Jackson. Along with Biloxi, Gulfport is the co-county seat of Harrison County and the larger of the two principal cities of the Gulfport-Biloxi, Mississippi Metropolit ...

. This video premiered exclusively on NBC's ''

Today Show ''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'' or informally, ''NBC News Today'') is an American news and talk morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It w ...

'' where

Matt Lauer Matthew Todd Lauer (; born December 30, 1957) is an American former television news personality, best known for his work with NBC News. After serving as a local news personality in New York City on WNBC, his first national exposure was as the ne ...

dubbed Theiss' video as the "scariest video" to come out of Katrina. This video is being considered for

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

for the highest storm surge ever caught on camera. Theiss is the co-author of the Amazon "best selling" book titled ''Hurricane Katrina "Through the eyes of Storm Chasers"''. A photo of Theiss holding onto a sign in Hurricane Katrina's storm surge debuted on the front cover of National Geographic's ''Witness to Disaster'' book. In 2006, Theiss was nominated for an Emmy and won an award from (PDN) Photo District News and (NPPA)

National Press Photographers Association The National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) is an American professional association made up of still photographers, television videographers, editors, and students in the journalism field. Founded in 1946, the organization is based in at ...

for best news coverage of the year. Theiss has documented 25 hurricanes in the United States, the Caribbean, and Mexico, including Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Charley, Hurricane Rita,

Hurricane Ivan Hurricane Ivan was a large, long-lived, Cape Verde hurricane that caused widespread damage in the Caribbean and United States. The cyclone was the ninth named storm, the sixth hurricane and the fourth major hurricane of the active 2004 Atlant ...

Hurricane Wilma Hurricane Wilma was an extremely intense and destructive Atlantic hurricane which was the most intense storm of its kind and the second-most intense tropical cyclone recorded in the Western Hemisphere, after Hurricane Patricia in 2015. Part o ...

, and Hurricane Andrew. From 2006 to 2009 Mike was a sponsored blog writer for

Weather Underground The Weather Underground was a far-left militant organization first active in 1969, founded on the Ann Arbor campus of the University of Michigan. Originally known as the Weathermen, the group was organized as a faction of Students for a Democr ...

blogging about Hurricane Adventure and Tornado Encounters. Theiss makes regular appearances on

The Weather Channel The Weather Channel (TWC) is an American pay television channel owned by Weather Group, LLC, a subsidiary of Allen Media Group. The channel's headquarters are in Atlanta, Georgia. Launched on May 2, 1982, the channel broadcasts weather foreca ...

doing television and phone interviews while inside landfalling hurricanes. Theiss' video has been seen worldwide in over 65 television documentaries and news specials. Theiss is also a speaker at the Annenberg Space for Photography in Los Angeles discussing his near death experiences. In 2012 Theiss was hired by BBC (CBBC) to be a television presenter for the new kids weather series entitled ''Fierce Earth''. He and other presenters take one on a journey around the world to find mother natures most extreme weather situations. Theiss chases severe

thunderstorm A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorms are some ...

s and

es in the Great Plains. He operates as a tour guide for Cloud 9 Tours with owner Charles Edwards. Other guides include Jim Leonard (photographer) and

George Kourounis George Kourounis (born 22 May 1970), is a Greek-Canadian adventurer and storm chaser who specializes in documenting extreme weather and worldwide natural disasters. He presents the television series ''Angry Planet''. Storm chasing Kourounis has b ...

. In 2016, Theiss became the first American news reporter to report on a land-falling hurricane in Cuba since the lifting of the 1962 travel ban between the US and Cuba. Theiss reported live on The Weather Channel while inside the eye-wall and eye of extreme Category 4

Hurricane Matthew Hurricane Matthew was an extremely powerful Atlantic hurricane which caused catastrophic damage and a humanitarian crisis in Haiti, as well as widespread devastation in the southeastern United States. The deadliest Atlantic hurricane since ...

in Baracoa, Cuba. This was the first time ever achieved in the news industry.

References

External links

*
Ultimate Chase, Inc.
Mike's Video Library
Extreme Nature Photography
Mike's personal website {{DEFAULTSORT:Theiss, Mike Storm chasers American photographers Living people 1978 births People from Key Largo, Florida