The Storm Chasers Return to Tornado Alley!

[ScanManQSL]

The Discovery Channel Storm Chasers are back with with a all-new series!
New season premieres Sunday beginning Oct. 18th @ 10pm E/T.

Storm Chasers : Discovery Channel

[sjcscanner]

Thanks for the reminder! Looks like a great season. Is Josh and the DOW going to be chasing with the TIV, or will they be on the show at all?

[Hickory]

I think it was in April or May that we saw the TIV in Lakewood, CO. It looked like TIV one. Does anyone know why it was there? They went to some apartments and stopped there for a while then they were on their way again. I was one of the only people who saw and recognized the vehicle. I figured maybe one of their members or friends lived there? It was very surreal and exciting to see it in person. I wish I had time to see it while it was parked! Such a cool vehicle. Way to go Sean for inventing this vehicle.

[Leading_Edge]

Originally Posted by Hickory

I think it was in April or May that we saw the TIV in Lakewood, CO. It looked like TIV one. Does anyone know why it was there? They went to some apartments and stopped there for a while then they were on their way again. I was one of the only people who saw and recognized the vehicle. I figured maybe one of their members or friends lived there? It was very surreal and exciting to see it in person. I wish I had time to see it while it was parked! Such a cool vehicle. Way to go Sean for inventing this vehicle.

The Center for Severe Weather Research is actually in Boulder, Colorado, This is Dr. Josh Wurman's organization with the DOW's. I believe that they keep the old TIV and the new TIV there too.

[poppafred]

I don't think I will watch this season.

The producers are highlighting Timmer more in each episode. He is an adrenaline junkie and his bad example is going to get some wanna-bees hurt before it is all said and done.

Yeah, he catches more storms, but he takes a LOT of unnecessary chances and puts his entire crew in danger when he does. One of the previews for this coming season shows his windshield blowing back into his face. It is just stupid to put yourself in that situation. He knew the dangers associated with that particular cell and did it anyway just to get the shot.

He keeps it up and he will wind up dead or seriously injured and may take others with him.

Wurman's group does it right, safety first or don't do it at all. Not as exciting, maybe, but at least he goes home when he is finished. I remember one episode where Wurman went into Arkansas and didn't like the situation simply because he couldn't see the horizon, something I have to contend with every time I go out.

[rdale]

Originally Posted by poppafred

One of the previews for this coming season shows his windshield blowing back into his face.

If you slow the video down - you realize that's not what is happening. Plus windshields don't break apart in the first place, they crack where they are and stay together.

I love the show - it's a nice adrenaline rush just watching the previews

[poppafred]

Originally Posted by rdale

I love the show - it's a nice adrenaline rush just watching the previews

My point exactly.

The show is meant for adrenaline seekers, not for serious spotters or chasers. They take too many risks for the wrong reasons. Chasers like that or people that believe that is the right way to chase get themselves or those riding with them hurt. Ask the two "chasers" who drove out in front of an F-2 on I-40 at Lonoke, AR in 1994.

Oh, yeah, you can't, they're dead.

Tornadoes and severe weather don't care if you have a wife and family. It doesn't care if you have plans for tomorrow. You make a stupid move and get into the wrong place, it won't hit the brakes and let you move.

The only thing worse than just being dead is being dead because you were looking for an adrenaline buzz. Take up bungee jumping or sky diving, they are a LOT safer.

Adrenaline doesn't work very well when your body is trying to reach room temperature.

[poppafred]

Originally Posted by rdale

If you slow the video down - you realize that's not what is happening. Plus windshields don't break apart in the first place, they crack where they are and stay together.

Obvoiusly you have never been hit by a tennis ball sized hail stone at highway speed. With that much mass, NOTHING stays together on impact.

[JimmyL1011]

Fred, you're EXACTLY right.

Everyone loved the movie Blair Witch Project when it first came out because there was a lot of bad, suggestive camera work, a lot of off-camera screaming and then the shot would just go black, leaving the viewer to his use his/her imagination and fill in the rest. I watched the first two seasons of Storm Chasers just to see what new drama the Reed Timmer crew could come up with.

Watch Reed (who says he's a meteorologist) just look at a funnel cloud and scream "Here it comes!!" and have all of the rest of his teammates dash back into the Tahoe and back up at breakneck speeds.

Poor Josh Wurman must have the patience of a saint. He's the only real scientist on the program and his research is very well coordinated and thought out. He puts up with the very immature Timmer and his team as they are only interested in getting as close to tornados as they can for the adrenaline rush. In order to have some type of credibility, Timmer has concocted a "probe" which they try to get in the path of a twister. The only problem is that it's more of a video camera than any calibrated weather device and he never says what the thing is supposed to detect. If he says that something is "bulletproof" again I think I'll scream. Lexan is bullet-resistant at best but certainly not at this thickness. For the 3rd Season, they had some guy take the Tahoe and make a cover for it (I know.....bulletproof, right?) and some Lexan windows. I'm surprised that the Discovery Channel puts stuff like this on the air.

Finally Sean Casey is an IMAX cameraman who goes to great lengths to get him and his camera in the path of a tornado. When he got the first TIV built and on the road, it broke down within the first 50 miles, not from a CAT5 twister but from just bumpy back roads in Tornado Alley.

The National Weather Service and National Severe Storm Laboratory Center have hard-working, dedicated researchers who watch and monitor weather conditions for a living. The United States military risk life and limb flying airborne labs into hurricanes and tornados. Timmer and Casey are amateurs at best and give storm chasing such a bad name it's a wonder the Tornado Alley states don't prohibit storm chasing altogether.

I remember when I first saw "Twister" too and thought how interesting something like this must be but Timmer and Co. need to grow up and leave the storm chasing to the professionals and not to morons on CB radio who blow through red lights trying to get The Big One.

Jim

p.s. If you want to see professionals doing their best check out NOAA's National Severe Storms Laboratory

[poppafred]

Originally Posted by JimmyL1011

Finally Sean Casey is an IMAX cameraman who goes to great lengths to get him and his camera in the path of a tornado.

At least Sean had the brains to try to put some armor around himself and his crew. Timmer tries to do the same thing with his tin-can Tahoe

The United States military risk life and limb flying airborne labs into hurricanes and tornados.

They do fly into hurricanes but even they are too smart to try to punch a super cell.

I remember when I first saw "Twister" too and thought how interesting something like this must be but Timmer and Co. need to grow up and leave the storm chasing to the professionals and not to morons on CB radio who blow through red lights trying to get The Big One.

Let's leave that absurd cinematic endeavor for another thread!

p.s. If you want to see professionals doing their best check out NOAA's National Severe Storms Laboratory

The TRUE professionals, and Josh Wurman is their peer without a doubt.

I just want people to understand that spotting and chasing are not one of the elements of the X-Games. If you are looking for an adrenaline rush, be smart and look for something else.

[rdale]

Originally Posted by poppafred

Obvoiusly you have never been hit by a tennis ball sized hail stone at highway speed.

I suggest you look at the clip again, because you aren't getting it. Their windshield did not break, shatter, or in any other format fly in on them.

[rdale]

Originally Posted by poppafred

The show is meant for adrenaline seekers, not for serious spotters or chasers.

I suggest you check the "serious" chaser forums before making that claim. It's pretty popular. Nobody is saying emulate them, nobody is saying that's the best way to do it -- but we're all watching.

They take too many risks for the wrong reasons.

So what. People climb Mt Everest every year. They accomplish NOTHING. And many die. Every year.

And people still chose to climb it, and that's their call. I'm not going to interfere.

Chasers like that or people that believe that is the right way to chase get themselves or those riding with them hurt.

People take to their crab fishing every year, many are hurt, some die. Their call, I'm not going to interfere. But I will watch them on Discovery.

Ask the two "chasers" who drove out in front of an F-2 on I-40 at Lonoke, AR in 1994.

I've never heard that story, and I've been chasing a lot longer than 99% of the people here. Got any specifics?

Take up bungee jumping or sky diving, they are a LOT safer.

Okay, now you're just playing dumb. At least 18 known deaths in the last 20 years from bungee jumping, and 35 people per year die skydiving.

Chasing? MAYBE a total of 2-4 in the last 50 years.

How are those other events safer?

[poppafred]

Originally Posted by rdale

I've never heard that story, and I've been chasing a lot longer than 99% of the people here. Got any specifics?

I didn't hear it, I saw what was left of their Ford van. F-2 touched down in Scott, AR just after dark, traversed the farm lands and entered Lonoke from the southwest, destroying two mobile homes and all the buildings on a minnow farm in the process. The two chaser were trying, for some unknown reason, to get out in front of the storm. Their timing was off and, as they passed north of the city on the east-west interstate, the funnel emerged from the trees to the south. Their van was caught broadside by the winds, picked up off the pavement and tossed 100 yards out into a field on the north side of the interstate, rolling an estimated 6 times before coming to a stop. Neither survived.

The NWS ham net control operator had just warned everyone that the funnel was rain-wrapped and to be extremely careful. They apparently chose to ignore the warning.

Okay, now you're just playing dumb. At least 18 known deaths in the last 20 years from bungee jumping, and 35 people per year die skydiving.

Chasing? MAYBE a total of 2-4 in the last 50 years.

How are those other events safer?

Ever heard of "hyperbole"? Exaggeration to make a point? I guess not.

No, they are not safe. Nor is rock climbing, rapelling, BASE jumping, hang gliding, skiing, motorcycle racing or driving a stock car. But with all those activities, you generally have to talk to someone who knows what they are doing before you can participate. Not so with chasing. Too many uninformed novices watch Reed Timmer pull his stunts and think to themselves that if he can do it, so can they. So they buy a scanner, plug in a few frequencies, jump into the car and chase thunderstorms. The results? They choke up the roads, cut off escape routes and leave legitimate spotters trapped. Don't believe it? Just take a minute to ask Josh Wurman or any other pro what they think of amateur "chasers" off camera.

Here's what I know:

I have attended every type of weather spotter training the NWS in North Little Rock, AR offered. I have had NWS certification as both a basic & advanced spotter and have actively spotted for 19 years. I was the ham radio weather net control operator from the NWS offices in North Little Rock, AR for 4 years. In that period of time I have personally heard (from NWS staff) of no less than 16 deaths DIRECTLY related to tornado chasing or weather spotting. There were 3 in Oklahoma just last year, 2008. That last tidbit of information came from the NWS staff during a work shop at NWS Tulsa, OK this past May.

Tornado chasing and weather spotting are not a game, they are deadly serious.

And if it is all about the adrenaline rush, professional counselling is highly recommended.

[scottaschultz]

I certainly get the "adrenaline rush" part, but as has been pointed out:
a) the guys on TV are professional meteorologists collecting data for scientific research and,
b) those guys are on TV.
Although the show is definitely not fiction, it is for entertainment! This may be a, "Well, duh!" statement, but the program is edited for (hopefully) maximum interest value. If you were really to follow a professional storm chaser, you would probably be bored to tears. It can be long hours of driving around for days or weeks on end and seeing absolutely nothing! That may be OK for Nova, but not for The Discovery Channel that relies on advertising revenue.

My wife thinks I am crazy (but that's a topic for another forum!), but I will admit that one thing I want to do is go on a chase at least once before I die. If you Google "storm chasing tours" you will see LOTS of choices. I am still checking some of them out and haven't narrowed down any of my choices yet. At least I know I will be going with professionals who are (supposedly) intimately familiar with severe weather and will have my personal safety at the top of their list.

[rdale]

Originally Posted by poppafred

There were 3 in Oklahoma just last year, 2008. That last tidbit of information came from the NWS staff during a work shop at NWS Tulsa, OK this past May.

Details? Again you're bringing up stuff that nobody knows about on any weather spotter or chaser forum.

Tornado chasing and weather spotting are not a game, they are deadly serious.

Nobody said it isn't serious. But nobody (but you) seems to believe that people watch Reed in the fall and decide to drive into a tornado in April.

[scottaschultz]

Originally Posted by rdale

Again you're bringing up stuff that nobody knows about on any weather spotter or chaser forum.

So you are saying that if you didn't read about it on an Internet forum, you doubt that it ever happened? Internet forums can be a source of information, but in many cases, there is little or no fact checking involved. I have taken graduate level research classes and they make it very clear that things like Wikipedia are NOT valid sources of information for the purposes of scientific research for just that reason. Anybody can put anything into an Internet forum or website with absolutely no verification whatsoever at all.

Originally Posted by rdale

But nobody (but you) seems to believe that people watch Reed in the fall and decide to drive into a tornado in April.

I am absolutely certain this happens. There is another thread in this forum where the OP has never even taken one single spotting class but refers to himself as a "chaser" Where do you think he got the idea? Maybe not from that TV show specifically, but somehow he got the idea that just because he has an interest in severe weather, that makes him a chaser!

I am also a member of a couple of handgun/firearm forums and it never ceases to amaze me the number of people over there that think of shows like "Cops" as reference material! Just like "Storm Chasers" is about real meteorologists and "Cops" is about the real men and women of law enforcement, the bottom line of both programs is that they are first and foremost put on the air for ENTERTAINMENT!

This is also why TV shows that involve medical situations have real doctors as consultants to make sure that the programs depict actual medical fact. There are people who watch soap operas and shows like "ER" and go to their doctor complaining of the same symptoms as their favorite actors!

I am not saying that its right, but people do dumb things!

[rdale]

Originally Posted by scottaschultz

So you are saying that if you didn't read about it on an Internet forum, you doubt that it ever happened?

Come on - that's not what I said. I said I'm integrated very closely in the chase community. ST is _the_ forum for storm chasers. I've not heard of any of these deaths, and didn't find anything in a search of that NWS office's webpage. So all I'm asking for is a little more proof than "I heard someone say..." I'm still not sure how he knows the two guys killed 1) were chasers and 2) decided to drive in front of the tornado.

Maybe not from that TV show specifically, but somehow he got the idea that just because he has an interest in severe weather, that makes him a chaser!

Agreed - he's not a chaser. And I bet after the first few chases with zero tornadoes, he'll no longer be a chaser unless he has a different drive than "adrenaline rush."

[poltergeisty]

Saw the show last night. I choose life...

I don't know. That IMAX guy just can't be satisfied unit a twister twists his body in half and it's caught on camera.

[KC9NCF]

Originally Posted by ScanManQSL

The Discovery Channel Storm Chasers are back with with a all-new series!
New season premieres Sunday beginning Oct. 18th @ 10pm E/T.

Storm Chasers : Discovery Channel

If it isn't the ARRL with their "when all else fails" garbage, it's shows like this that promote people to go out and whack! When it isn't hams being on the whack, it's the severe weather spotters / chasers who gotta get their weather whack on! This show should be canceled because of the dangerous behavior it promotes.

Types of whackers:

amateur radio

weather

police

fire/medical

scanner

vehicle: used police cars, big rigs, modified vehicles, motorbikes, etc.

Technology: computer nerds and other electronics geeks.

TV: all they do is watch tv all day

Movie / Entertainment collectors / reality show buffs

Man, there's more classes and categories of whacker than I can list!

[rdale]

Originally Posted by KC9NCF

This show should be canceled because of the dangerous behavior it promotes.

Aren't you the same guy who said iPhones should be banned since people can use them to listen to online scanners?

And that anyone who uses a ham radio repeater is breaking the law if they don't have written permission from the trustee?