Storm chasing is also comparitively new in Australia. Initial public perception and acceptance of storm chasing in hind sight was predicable. Consider what you would do if you had a group of young lads with vehicles parked near a fence looking over your property particularly if there were recent burglaries? Storm chasers in the early days and even today face suspicion from land owners and can be asked to leave. In some cases, recent storm events in a particular locality that may have caused significant loss of stock or damage to property generally do not take storm chasers in their area favourably. With time, and through extensive media coverage on storm chasing, public attitude will relax somewhat once they see the benefits of storm chasers and their contributions to helping save lives and assist in preparadness to minimise property losses.
Whether storm chasing is respected by meteorologists depend on the geographical region. In Australia, storm chasing is not condoned by the Bureau of Meteorology due to government policy. In the United States, it is too common to see meteorologists, researchers and even universities being co-involved in storm chasing activities. This means that reports of severe weather by storm spotters are communicated differently though are just as important in relaying warning information.