Storm Chasers
So many times when Oklahoma and tornadoes reach media attention is through the description of an individual with more dogs under the porch of their trailer than teeth in their head. We get that, we really do. There are a lot of good down-home, laid-back country folks in Oklahoma, but sometimes you want to see the other side.
We found it in this story about storm chasers first published on ABC News.com
REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK
By MATT GUTMAN (@mattgutmanABC)
CANTON, Okla., May 24, 2011
Within minutes of joining the Storm Chasers, a group of scientists and filmmakers from the Discover Channel who hunt down tornadoes to capture stunning severe weather video, my producer Seni Tienabeso and I nearly ran into a massive multi-vortex tornado.
Hail plunked off the exoskeleton of the Chasers’ “Dominator” (a converted Chevy suburban), prowling country roads like some prehistoric creature at 80 mph.
Our driver and Storm Chasing vet Kevin Barton lowered the Dominator to the ground, saying, “That way the wind doesn’t pick us up and toss us.”
He hooted that we’d entered something chasers call the “bear’s cage” — the area within the storm cell where a tornado could strike. And directly overhead this giant swirling cloud, a giant overhead whirlpool nearly perfectly formed.
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It rippled the wheat fields in a nearly perfect circle.
Barton now shouted against the wind: “You guys are members of the zero meter club. … That means you’ve now been zero meters from a tornado. My third intercept in three seasons…”
They seemed to anthropomorphize the storm, calling it “beautiful,” as archeologists would a rare find.
“It’s rare to see it this close,” Barton said. “Not too many people see that. Absolutely gorgeous tornado, guys.”
We drove on, finding another giant twister churning near Canton. The air smelled of freshly cut grass, the result of so much splintering and hacking of the forest. The debris field was immense, like a giant lawnmower had moved through a forest.
We moved on, and hours later we were back in Oklahoma City.
The Storm Chasers move so fast, we spent hours just trying to catch up with them. Reed Timmer and his crew literally stop for no man.
Finally, as they were forced to hook a U-turn, we simply drove our car in front of one of the Dominators, blocking it, nearly ramming it.
Clumsily, but quickly we swapped cars, jumping into the Dominator, for a ride of a lifetime.
SOUNDS AWESOME! So, when the storm finds You, please give us a call. at 1 (405) 923-3879
