Silver Lining Tours

Name: Christoffer Björkwall
Tour: T5 High Plains Magic
Year: 2018
Blogged about the tour: Read more

General review

I took a 6 day tour with SLT during a rather active period in the, otherwise, slow season of 2018. We got to see the Cope, CO, tornado outbreak which was a real treat. I had a great time with Silver Lining Tours, much thanks to the great crew with Roger Hill as a tour guide. I felt like the tour was very professional and with good attention to detail. Our tour was combined with the Photography Tour and we also had an extra vehicle so all in all we were 5 tour vans so it felt quite crowded with some 35 tour guests. Roger was great in handling it though but it also meant you only spent 1/3 of the days in the same van as Roger, the tour guide, and the rest with only a driver. All in all, it was a great tour and I felt very confident that Roger would find any tornadoes around. I can recommend you to chase with SLT, especially if it is your first tour as they are a very safe option. You will have optimal chances of seeing tornadoes and you will be surrounded by very competent staff. Please read my full review in the linked blog post!

Tour guide review

Roger Hill is a really great tour guide and a superb storm chaser. Super professional, very likeable, and very experienced. He was always eager to help, enthusiastic and handled the tour guests in a very good way. I have nothing but good things to say about him!

Vehicle review

SLT use the same type of vans as most other tour companies and they are not too comfortable unfortunately. I miss neck support, curved seats and leg room. On the positive side, they are great to watch storms from with large windows. We had electrical sockets to charge laptops/iPads etc and the vans were nice and clean.
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Name: Storm fan
Tour: Canadian Prairies
Year: 2022

General review

I had a great time and felt that they took our safety seriously. I learned a tremendous amount and found the accommodations were comfortable. We saw some fantastic storms! They were quite upfront that they were following the current published COVID protocols, which was no masking. They were also upfront that they did not check vaccination status etc. Many of our van came home with COVID. It would have been reassuring to know if they began testing the incoming group as some were staying on. I felt our tour group as a whole should have been informed that several had ended up sick and COVID+, letting them know they had likely been exposed.

Tour guide review

Great! Knowledgeable and pleasant.

Vehicle review

The vans were quite basic but functional. We had enough room, they were clean, and felt safe. There are no head rests for the rows of bench seats in the back. The charging plugs are on the left side of each seat section. They worked but were pretty slow. I’d recommend bringing a portable battery bank to have back up power.
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Name: Christine
Tour: Canadian Prairies
Year: 2018

General review

I chased on the Lecture Tour (T8) in 2018. I felt that we all got to know each other well, were always in the loop with what was going on with every guest always in the same van as Roger, and we all bonded well which is important when we have to watch out for each other in the middle of storms. I went on another small tour the prior with another company, and had a similar intimately positive experience, for the most part. It’s unfortunate that the tours are the size that they are during the prime season, but understandable since so many people do want to chase during that time. The lecture tour was in June, so during a time when there were fewer chasers on the road. So except for the day of the Prospect Valley tornado when everyone seemed to be out, it was only a few times when we encountered other chasers on the road which was a plus. This year I will chase (twice) in two larger groups, so I’ll be able to compare more accurately. But based on my current knowledge and the feedback I received from one guest who exclusively goes on the SLT lecture tour now, if you try a smaller tour with SLT, there will probably be zero negatives to the experience (although I do agree about the vans possibly being more comfortable – but nothing that I found too bothersome). Smaller groups also could lead to problems if any guests have issues with each other – nowhere to hide like on a big tour! But I have yet to encounter that. For the most part, those I’ve met on commercial storm chases have tried their best to get along with each other.
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Name: Kyle and Rod Boone
Tour: SLT Photo Tour #2
Year: 2018

General review

We are a part of the lucky group that got to see 8 tornadoes in one day (June 28, 2018) in South Dakota and Montana. We began our tour in Denver with a helpful orientation for the 6 of us by leaders Roger and Caryn Hill of Silver Lining Stormchasing Tours. The next day we set out on our adventure - in one week we traveled 3500 miles and into 9 states (North Dakota, South Dakota, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, Montana, Colorado, Wyoming). Roger and Caryn used multiple sources of data (including monitors in the front seat) to track tornado and super cell conditions in real time. On Monday (June 24) Roger and Caryn announced that we had to be in North Dakota by Thursday because the conditions would be perfect for tornadoes - and they were right! On Thursday, June 28 we had the experience of a lifetime, and shot hundreds of photos that day. But in addition to tornados, throughout the trip we were able to photograph amazing super cell formations, as well as the small towns and prairies in the states we passed through. Roger and Caryn were incredibly knowledgeable and passionate, and knew how to drive to position us so that we would intersect the path of tornados and the super cells to obtain the best views. They were attentive to safety, and passengers need to be in good physical condition to be able to quickly hop in and out of the van when conditions dicate it. Also, because we were truly chasing storms, most of the time there were not formal dinners, but rather eating "on the fly" (convenience store stops). In the afternoons they would book comfortable hotel rooms for us depending on where we were headed. They went to great lengths to provide us with the most memorable experience - this is not just a job for them, they are incredibly passionate about storms! And their enthusiasm is infectious - we are ready to go again!

Tour guide review

Roger and Caryn used multiple sources of data (including monitors in the front seat) to track tornado and super cell conditions in real time. They were incredibly knowledgeable and passionate, and knew how to drive to position us so that we would intersect the path of tornados and the super cells to obtain the best views. They were attentive to safety, and passengers need to be in good physical condition to be able to quickly hop in and out of the van when conditions dicate it. In the afternoons they would book comfortable hotel rooms for us depending on where we were headed. They went to great lengths to provide us with the most memorable experience - this is not just a job for them, they are incredibly passionate about storms!

Vehicle review

The van was OK - 3 rows of seats, and the leaders had us rotate each day so that we had equal time in each of the seats. On one of the days we were behind slow cars and were not able to get ahead of a hail storm, and we experienced a broken windshield and a broken window, as well as dings all over the roof and hood - but we were well protected and the van was indestructible and we were able to keep going!
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Name: AlanS
Tour: T1: Close encounters tour
Year: 2016

General review

This was my second Tour with SLT and like the first one was thoroughly enjoyable. SLT are prepared to go the extra mile (or 2 or 3 hundred !)to get you were the action is or where there is even a low probability of an event. Leads to a few long days but youre there to get the most out of the weather. Tour guide open and honest about chances on any given day. Thoroughly recommended. Would/will use again.

Tour guide review

Roger is a great team leader and well respected. Still enthusiastic after all these years which I find quite infectious. Difficult to fault.

Vehicle review

Vans are up to the task and fairly comfortable for a long day. No complaints.
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Name: Al Schwartz
Tour: T5: High plains magic
Year: 2014

General review

We've gone on 8 tours now with SLT, which is testimony itself to how good they are. Roger Hill is a storm chasing veteran who has seen and documented nearly 700 tornadoes! (Twice as many as some others who claim to have seen the most). We've seen T's on 7 of our 8 tours going back to 2008. Roger has that knack for being on the right storm. The rest of the crew and the drivers are excellent. The vans hold 6 customers each, so everyone has a window view. And we stay at decent hotels such as Holiday Inn Express, Hampton, and Wyndham whenever available.
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Name: Mark Rosengarten
Tour: Tour is not registered
Year: 2009

General review

There is no better experience than chasing storms with Roger Hill. He has a knack for getting on the right storms at the right time. His enthusiasm is incredible, and he is an amazing teacher. On last year's tour, we had two days of storms with southwest flow...one nearly produced a tornado in the foothills near Glendo, WY. The next day was the amazing storm that started in Sturgis, SD and went all the way to Valentine, NE, where we stood in awe of its power as we had perfect position to just sit and watch it come at us for 40 wonderful minutes. Then we had northwest flow, which provided us with day after day of beautifully sculpted supercells in CO, TX, KS, OK and NM...in JULY. It was an amazing tour, with severe storms every single day. I can't wait to get back there this year!
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Name: Jacquie Kukuk
Tour: Tour is not registered
Year:

General review

Storm chasing with Silver Lining Tours is an absolute must for any weather junkie. All tours I went on were led by Roger Hill, and I believe he has a true gift in predicting where tornados are going to form. Not only have I seen 37 tornados over the years with SLT, I have also seen some of the most gorgeous storms, huge hail, horrendous haboobs and fantastic lighting shows. In addition, I have gained a wealth of knowledge about storm formation, made some great new friends from all around the world and have seen parts of the United States I never would have seen otherwise. The trips are as comfortable as can be expected, with window seats for everyone in nice vans with state of the art weather monitoring equipment, clean and comfortable rooms every night and all the truck stop food you can eat. Will I be going again? You bet!
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