THEIR advice is get home and get safe, but when lightning strikes and thunder booms, the region's storm chasers are not running away.
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A crew of local weather enthusiasts track every major weather event across the region, and beyond.
Quirindi's Rob Balint said it's something he's been doing his whole life.
"In the moment, it's just a big adrenaline rush, that's why we do it," he said.
"Storms are scary, and you'll hear us yahoo-ing and going 'wow' when there are big lightning strikes."
Mr Balint and Dave Farrenden are two of the names behind the iconic Tamworth Regional Weather Facebook page.
They like to live life on the edge - of storms.
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"We'll be following absolutely every single event this season," Mr Balint said.
He said they use their platform to warn locals to "get home, and get safe", often before official warnings can be issued.
"The aim of storm chasing is to document, and study how the systems are behaving," Mr Balint said.
"That way we can get the warnings out, because The Bureau of Meteorology up here can be very delayed, compared to live footage that we can do."
Mr Balint said they take their "hobby" extremely seriously, especially as the region moves deeper into warm weather.
"With this upcoming season, and with La Nina around, we're expecting bigger and nastier storms than what we've had in previous years," he said.
"If we save one person's life, then our hobby is paying dividends."
Mr Balint said when a thunderstorm is drumming up, the team keeps a keen eye on it, and it can take a day or two to properly prepare for a chase.
"We look at reports and radar and maps and work out where the hotspots will be ... once we work that out, we head there," he said.
"We might drive four or five hours to reach a spot for a chase, and when we get there, there might not be anything in the sky but then by the afternoon, it's pretty full on."
A storm cell hit Gunnedah on Wednesday night, dropping more than 36mm of rain on the town and bringing bolts of lighting as thunder boomed.
As the weather raged, Mr Balint set up his tripod and camera on the Breeza flats, and snapped more than 1000 photos of the storm.
In his decades of chasing, it hasn't always been that smooth and successful though.
"If you can't find cover, you get beaten the hell out of," Mr Balint said.
There is a chance of thunderstorms in Gunnedah for the next few afternoons.
Police and crime reporter at the Newcastle Herald.
Police and crime reporter at the Newcastle Herald.
