Inspired by the likes of H. G. Wells, Jules Verne, and a Christmastime windfall during his ninth year that included all the provisions a budding storm chaser might need in a tornado shelter -- flashlight, camera, diary, G.I. Joe action figure, EasyBake oven -- Jim Reed logged his first weather journal entry when he was just 11. Now, at 46, well into his career as one of the world's foremost extreme weather photographers, Reed has spent more than 15 years and put more than a quarter-million miles on his car stalking tornadoes, hurricanes, geomagnetic storms, and freak weather events across the United States, amassing the dynamic collection of rip-roaring images presented in his latest book, Storm Chaser. Above, a team of scientists launches a weather balloon into a tornado in Kansas.