According to preliminary figures from NOAA, America saw 933 tornadoes from January to May 2017 -- 141 more than the 20-year average for that period -- making it one of the most active tornado seasons on record. 

Storm chasers go where the action is, putting themselves at risk to capture dramatic photos and video of the turbulent skies.

Here, veteran storm chaser Tim Marshall walks toward a tornado scout vehicle as a supercell thunderstorm picks up strength during a research mission on May 9, 2017 in Lamb County, Texas.

Lori Mehmen stepped outside her front door to capture this image of a huge funnel touching down in Orchard, Iowa in June 2008.

A storm chaser's truck sits on the road between two funnel clouds in Pender, Nebraska on June 16, 2014.

Storm chaser Craig O'Neal takes a self portrait in front of a large tornado in Colorado in 2015.

This large tornado swept across farmland near Wray, Colorado on May 7, 2016.

O'Neal captured this photo of a tornado on the Colorado plains in 2015.

Spencer captured this image as a powerful thunderstorm swept through Arkansas in 2011, producing lightning as well as a tornado.

In 1999, this F-5 twister, captured by University of Oklahoma storm chasers, damaged thousands of buildings in central Oklahoma. During the same two-day period, the storm chasers saw 77 more tornadoes.

The Center for Severe Weather Research uses a mobile Doppler radar system to track tornadoes. This photo of a funnel cloud, at an unknown location, was taken in May 2004.

Hail and debris carried by heavy winds can lead to plenty of broken windshields for storm chasers, as shown in this 2015 photo by O'Neal.

This tornado in Hildreth, Nebraska kicks up dust as it cuts through farmland. Storm chaser Ken Engquist took this photo on June 14, 2014.

Storm chaser Daniel Loretto captured this nighttime tornado when the sky was illuminated with lightning during a 2013 storm. 

This photo of two tornadoes was snapped by a NOAA severe weather scientist on the Great Plains on September 28, 2010.

This Minnesota tornado reportedly skipped over this farm as it touched down multiple times in August, 2014.

Storm chaser O'Neal described this 2015 Colorado twister as "massive and loud."

A tornado destroyed this Arkansas neighborhood in the spring of 2013.

About 30 tornadoes touched down across five states from Michigan to Texas on May 24, 2016. This huge tornado touched down near Dodge City, Kansas.