bio

Chris Kridler is an award-winning writer, editor, photographer and videographer whose storm-chasing accounts can be found at SkyDiary.com. She is also the author of the novel “Funnel Vision,” about storm chasers.

Chris Kridler

Chris Kridler chases storms every spring in Tornado Alley. (Photo courtesy William T. Hark, HarkPhoto.com)

Chris’ photographs have appeared in several magazines and books, including the covers of The Journal of Meteorology, the book Winderful, and the new edition of Wallace and Hobbs’ Atmospheric Science textbook. She was recently featured in Popular Photography. See photos

Chris’ video has appeared in several television documentaries, including “National Geographic Explorer” and programs on The Weather Channel, The Learning Channel, the BBC, The Travel Channel and The History Channel. Her documentary “Moonstruck on the Space Coast,” which she directed while working for Florida Today, won Best Documentary and Viewers’ Choice at the Melbourne Independent Filmmakers Festival. Her independently produced short documentary “Chasing Reality” won best documentary at the Melbourne festival in 2011. See videos

Chris is author of the novel Funnel Vision, about storm chasers. Her writing has appeared in Newsweek, Premiere, Maryland Poetry Review, and a number of newspapers. She has worked as a reporter and editor at Florida Today, The Baltimore Sun and The Charlotte Observer. As a reporter covering space, she wrote about space shuttle missions, the Mars Rovers from California’s Jet Propulsion Lab, and a Soyuz launch and mission from Kazakhstan and Russia. She has written book, movie and restaurant reviews; countless news articles; and features on a variety of topics, including trends, people, food, cocktails and gardening. See clips

Originally from Pennsylvania, she studied journalism and copy editing, with a double major in English, at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She lives in Brevard County – on Florida’s Space Coast – with her husband and dogs.


A few credits:

Writing

  • News articles, features, and book and movie reviews in The Baltimore Sun, The Miami Herald, The Charlotte Observer, Florida Today and several other newspapers
    • Winner of a Bronze in the Land Travel category of the Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Competition, sponsored by the Society of American Travel Writers Foundation, 1999
    • Co-winner of 2002 Waldo Proffitt Award for excellence in environmental journalism in Florida
    • Second place, general excellence in science writing, 2003 Florida Press Club awards
    • First place, 2010, “Bon Appetit Brevard,” Society for Features Journalism best interactive feature
    • First place, 2009, “90 Seconds to Fame,” AASFE/Society for Features Journalism best interactive feature
    • First place, 2009, Video, “Fay’s Aftermath,” Florida Society of News Editors
    • Writer on Florida Today space reporting team that, for its coverage of the Columbia disaster and its section on the future of human space flight, was key to the newspaper winning a Gannett Gold Medal for 2003; second-place 2003 Best of Gannett awards for spot news and investigative reporting; various quarterly Well Done awards from the company; and first place in Associated Press Managing Editors’ online convergence awards
  • “My Turn” essay in Newsweek
  • Humor in Premiere and bOING bOING
  • Cartoons in Indie File
  • Poetry in The Maryland Poetry Review, The Charlotte Poetry Review and Face of the Assassin
Chris Kridler photography at Black Dog Gallery

Chris Kridler's photography was featured in a show at Black Dog Gallery in Cocoa Village, Florida.

 

Photography

Cover of Journal of Meteorology (July/August 2004); first-place contest winner

  • Cover of Winderful (book from Firenze University Press, 2004)
  • Cover of Wallace and Hobbs’ Atmospheric Science, Second Edition textbook
  • Popular Photography
  • Storm Chasing Handbook, 2nd Edition
  • Power Zone Magazine Vol. 9-Issue 1, Going to Extremes (textbook from Thomas Nelson Publishing)
  • Spotter’s Guide to Weather (book from Usborne Publishing)
  • Wild Winds (book from Learning Media)
  • Divine Wind: The Hurricane In History, Art, And Science by Kerry A. Emanuel (book from Oxford University Press)
  • Weather Guide Calendar
  • Hong Kong’s Next Magazine
  • The Baltimore Sun, Florida Today and other newspapers

 

Video

A sampling:

  • Documentary “Chasing Reality” – independently produced – won Best Documentary at Melbourne Independent Filmmakers Festival 2011
  • Documentary “Moonstruck on the Space Coast,” directed for Florida Today and WBCC-TV, won Best Documentary and People’s Choice awards at Melbourne Independent Filmmakers Festival 2009
  • Travel Channel: “World’s Worst Weather” (2010)
  • NBC/Weather Channel: “Weather Caught on Camera” (2011)
  • BBC: “Medical Mysteries: Lightning” (2001)
  • BBC Worldwide: “Tornado Diary” (1999)
  • National Geographic Explorer: “Tornado Hunters” (1998) and “Lightning Strikes” (1998); “National Geographic’s Most Amazing Moments II” (2006)
  • History Channel: “Nature Tech: Lightning” (2003)
  • GRB Productions: “Now See This!” (2002)
  • Pioneer Productions/The Learning Channel: “Storm Force: Tornadoes” (1999)
  • SurfGuru.com: “Vital Signs” (2001)
  • The Weather Channel: “Storm Stories” (2004), spot weather, “Full Force Nature” (2006)
  • WSMV-4, Nashville NBC affiliate: tornado footage (1997)