Mike Theiss (born April 22, 1978 in Key Largo, Florida, United States) is a National Geographic photographer, on air talent, video producer, professional storm chaser. He is the CEO/Founder of Ultimate Chase Inc. that specializes in extreme nature photography. His work has been published in National Geographic magazine numerous times for displaying hurricanes, tornadoes, lightning, volcanoes, and other rare nature events.
Theiss started storm chasing in 1986 in Key Largo, Florida, and now chases worldwide.
In 2005, Theiss captured the highest storm surge on video during Hurricane Katrina in Gulfport, Mississippi. This video premiered exclusively on NBC's Today Show where Matt Lauer dubbed Theiss' video as the "scariest video" to come out of Katrina. This video is being considered for Guinness World Records for the highest storm surge ever caught on camera. Theiss is the co-author of the Amazon "best selling" book titled Hurricane Katrina "Through the eyes of Storm Chasers". A photo of Theiss holding on to a sign in Hurricane Katrina's storm surge debuted on the front cover of National Geographic's Witness to Disaster book.
In 2012, Theiss was hired by BBC (CBBC) to be a television presenter for the new kids weather series entitled Fierce Earth. He and other presenters take one on a journey around the world to find mother natures most extreme weather situations.
