09/07/2025
WEBCAST WEDNESDAY: CHRIS LEE
Jack Quirk sits down and visits with his longtime friend Chris Lee, KOCO Channel 5's lead storm chaser, a legend in Television News storm coverage. This was more than just a fun day of catching up; it was a look back at the history of storm chasing and the evolution of broadcast technology in Oklahoma.
Chris Lee started at Channel 5 in 1977, just as storm chasing was beginning to intersect with television news. Inspired by scientific chasers from the Severe Storms Lab in Norman, TV crews began adapting their methods to bring real-time storm footage to the public. Lee vividly remembers the deadly tornado outbreak of April 10, 1979, that devastated Lawton and Wichita Falls, killing 50 people. It was one of his first major storm coverage experiences.
Early storm chasing was raw and risky. Station wagons outfitted with hail catchers, two-way radios, and even aircraft radar mounted on cars were questionable.
Before the internet and cellphones, live coverage meant finding a hilltop within 70 miles of a microwave tower or waiting hours to reach a satellite truck to broadcast video back to the station. Still photos were transmitted using modems, and one image could take over five minutes to send.
Lee was part of a pioneering team that constantly improvised to stay ahead. Their general manager supported risky tech upgrades, investing in $3,000 GPS units that only displayed coordinates. One of their engineers, Jerry Hart, even developed the first system to auto-overlay weather warnings on mapsโsomething viewers now take for granted.
The first attempts at live video from the field were rough, using Windows Media Encoder and modems to stream grainy footage at 15 frames per second. But it was a breakthrough. Eventually, cell bonding with multiple SIM cards allowed clean, real-time HD video from moving vehicles, a far cry from the analog delays of the past.
Lee recalled the dangers of storm chasing, especially at night, with delayed radar data and poor communication. He shared stories of dodging hail to protect delicate satellite trucks.