~Bio~ Stuff about us

A little about me, I was born in a  little  west central Minnesota town.   We moved to Fergus Falls, MN when I was in 6th grade so I still consider Fergus to be my home town.   My dad is Dr. Vernon Doms and my mom is Patricia Doms.  I have two half sisters from my father's first marriage,  Lynn and Tara. We live in smaller town which is about 50 miles west of Minneapolis, MN and located in a beautiful rural county.  Jen and I have two kids, Cullen and Cailyn.  My real job is as a project manager for a financial company which manages  loan portfolios for private lenders and some of the federal stuff.  When people ask me why I chase, I tell them because it is less exciting than my day to day job and allows me to relax .  Truthfully, the road to where I am now has been long, winding, smooth in some spots, and massive potholes in others...but we all survive.

Every chaser puts in something about how they got started so here is mine.  My dad took this photo in September of 1969 from our front yard in Grant county.  It appeared on the front page of the Minneapolis Star newspaper and was one of the most studied photos at the time.  He always had a great interest in the weather but this really got the ball rolling for me.  To make a long story short, once I could drive I was out watching the storms come in out of the Dakotas.  This kept progressing to where I am today....totally obsessed with every storm I can be fortunate enough to witness.

While chasing does occupy a lot of my life, I actually have a pretty broad array of interests.  A lot of them revolve around the kids.  Anything they want to do is usually good with me.  We spend a lot of time on the bikes checking out trails and new parks.  Our house is usually pretty busy with friends stopping by or us taking off to a beach or sledding hill.

I'm not a sports freak but really enjoy baseball and hockey.  I still play in a hockey league in the Minnepolis area in the winters and coach youth baseball in the summers.  Although,  each year it is getting a little harder to get up the morning after a hockey game....lol.  In the past few years, I've also gotten into video editing of my chase footage and enjoy compiling a highlights video for my friends and other chasers almost as much as hitting the road.

Chasing really is a family thing for us.  Even though Jen  and I split a few years ago, chasing still remains a common bond.  Here Jen and Cullen watch for a developing tornado.

Growing up in western Minnesota, hunting and fishing was a tradition and part of every families heritage.  I am trying to keep this going with my kids the best I can  but opportunities are a little limited.

Cullen has definately gotten bitten by the chase bug also.  I started taking him me locally when he was 4 and now he logs about 10,000 miles a year with me.  He does the majority of the navigating and keeps all of the cameras in working order and ready to go.  As of the end of the 2007 season, he has witnessed 24 tornadoes and has had video appear on local and national networks.

Thanks for taking the time to check out our website!

Thanks to Ben Leitschuh for providing this picture of me and the June 4th, 2005 Hiawatha, KS F2 tornado.

Feel free to drop me an email!  Send me your best weather story! bill@mnwxchaser.com

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