TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — It has been an active couple of weeks for monsoon storms in Southern Arizona. That means an active time for those trying to capture that perfect photo of lightning.
Those lightning bolts are often photographed by Tucson storm chasers like Kathryn Schierling. She recently snapped a photo of lightning overlooking the Boneyard:
Tucsonan Greg McCown has a knack for capturing remarkable images of monsoon storms:
Donna Ruthruff even captured the lightning strike that started the 2020 Bighorn Fire.
"That's the bolt," recalled Ruthruff. "That is the bolt that started this fire."
But these storm chasing photographers have one man to thank: Tucson's Cyclone Cowboy Warren Faidley.
"Tucson, of course, is one of the lightning capitals of the World," said Faidley during a recent interview from his Foothills home.
Faidley is the top storm chasing photojournalist in the country. A Santa Rita High School and U of A grad, Faidley quickly developed a passion for photographing monsoon storms.
"Lightning in Arizona was fun and exciting," recalled Faidley. "But even then I thought, 'well there's tornadoes and there's hurricanes and other things around the country'."
In 1987, he left his job as a photographer at the Tucson Citizen and started chasing storms in other parts of the country. His first chase in tornado alley still sticks with him today.
"Saragosa, Texas had been destroyed by a violent tornado," Faidley said. "Something I'll never forget."
Faidley quickly earned a reputation as the top weather photographer in the country. That reputation was enhanced when he captured an iconic image of a tornado in Texas.
"Up pops this one cell that, over the course of about four or five hours, eventually dropped the tornado that was used in 'Twister' for the poster and all of the advertising and everything else," Faidley said. "That was, at the time, a really big deal for me as a photographer to have something like that."
Yes, the iconic image on the Twister movie poster is his. The poster proudly hangs in his Tucson home. Faidley says it's the most money he's ever been paid for a single image.
Despite all the notoriety, Faidley always spends summers in Tucson chasing monsoon storms. In 1989, he captured this remarkable shot near Davis-Monthan.
"Probably my most famous image, even more so than the Twister image, because it captured the lightning bolt hitting a light pole 400 feet away from me," remembered Faidley. "It was very, very close to me. That shot ended up being published in Life Magazine, they billed me as a storm chaser and it really did launch my career."
And the storm chaser moniker was born.
Thirty-Five years after that dramatic photo, Faidley is still chasing monsoon storms—although he tells me he's much more selective now. He waits for days that are most active.
"Monsoon storms are probably the most difficult because they don't sometimes have a rhyme or reason," admitted Faidley.
He has a specially-built storm chasing pickup. Faidley often wears a cowboy hat, earning him his nickname "Cyclone Cowboy."
They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. The 2024 sequel to "Twister," called "Twisters," features a main character nicknamed the “tornado wrangler."
"I noticed the guy had the same cowboy hat and almost the same sunglasses," said Faidley. "I was like 'give me a break, come on. I'm the real cyclone cowboy, come on'."
Faidley says while cell phones have diluted the market with weather pictures and videos, he keeps one trick up his sleeves for the most spectacular shots.
"The drone is what is absolutely amazing," Faidley said. "Drones have changed everything."
He has now shifted to drones to capture monsoon, including the massive dust storms we often see here in Southern Arizona.
Drones have renewed his passion as a storm chaser—a job he helped define.
"You just never know what you're going to see," said Faidley. "Every day it's like opening up a new birthday present. You don't know what you're going to get."
Faidley says hurricanes are the ultimate storms to cover. He was in the middle of several major hurricanes like Andrew and Katrina. You will find him back out chasing hurricanes later this year.
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Pat Parris is an anchor and reporter for KGUN 9. He is a graduate of Sabino High School where he was the 1982 high school state track champion in the 800 meters. While in high school and college, he worked part-time in the KGUN 9 newsroom. Share your story ideas and important issues with Pat by emailing pat.parris@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.