Dave is a 22 year old full-time Bachelor of Media
student living on the NSW North Coast, an area that is highly prone
to severe thunderstorms and supercells during the warmer months
of the year (September - March). His interest in storm chasing and
photography grew out of a fascination with the weather at a young
age. A severe storm on Christmas Eve in 1997 which caused significant
damage in the area inspired him to learn more about how thunderstorms
worked. Dave began watching and photographing interesting looking
clouds in September 2000 and proceeded to go on his first storm
chase in December 2000 after meeting storm chase partner Michael
Bath. His favourite weather phenomenon to photograph is supercell
thunderstorm structure, but lightning is also another favourite
photographic subject. If you have any weather stories or photos
you would like to share, or any other comments and enquiries, feel
free to email Dave.
Michael is currently a media reporter after being
involved in the information technology industry for 10 years. He
has been interested in the weather since about 1981. This interest
was reinforced by two major floods in the Lismore area of northern
NSW during 1987 (while living at Ballina). Michael moved to Sydney
for work in 1989 and met storm chase partner Jimmy Deguara at a
BoM storm spotter training session in 1993. Michael returned to
the NSW North Coast in early 1999 and teamed up with Dave Ellem
the following year. Thunderstorms and storm chasing, weather & lightning
photography, floods and tropical cyclones are his main interests.
His most memorable weather event was the Casino HP supercell disaster.
Michael is prominent in local and national media aimed at increasing
public awareness of severe weather.
22 year old Dave Sercombe is currently studying
his Bachelor of Science. After living in Newcastle and Coffs Harbour
for the past 21 years, he has now moved to Brisbane to complete
his degree. Dave has always had a fascination with the weather
and has been following it closely since getting internet access
in 1999. He has been lucky enough to live at
the base of the hills leading up to the Dorrigo Plateau, one
of the most active storm breeding
grounds in NSW, for many years. These experiences will definitely
bring him back south of the border again in the future! His
passion for storm chasing and excitable personality adds great
energy to the nswstorms.com team.
All photographs appearing on this website
are protected under Australian and international copyright laws. All reproduction
rights are reserved and no photograph may be reproduced, copied, stored
or manipulated without permission of the authors. No images are within
the public domain and use of any photograph or image as the basis for
another photographic concept or illustration is a violation of copyright
