One of my photos from Friday's chase in OK. This is the first tornado to have dropped near El Reno. Unfortunately the tornado took the lives of 3 fellow Colorado chasers and meteorological researchers Tim Samaras, his son Paul Samaras and Carl Young of whom I knew 2 of them.
Obviously deeply saddened by the news. The twistex project involved placing probes in the path of tornadoes in order to collect data. There could be a more experienced, cautious chaser in the field which makes the news even more unbelievable.
Thank-you for the notice. I also followed Tim's work and he was definitely one of the most knowledgeable, inventive, and cautious of tornado scientists out there. Never met him personally. Wish I did.
I see he recently was working on million frame per second cameras to understand lightning.
What happened on Friday - which also included the Weather Channel crew in a different team, had to be a highly unexpected turn of this storm.
Hopefully Twistex lives on and more knowledge can be obtained.
This is a great (but scary) image, David. I hope you will do everything you can to be safe next time you're out chasing.
It is very sad and unfortunate these scientists lost their lives in this storm. Tornadoes are highly unpredictable and they were caught by surprise despite their skill, experience and knowledge. Thanks to all the scientists and other chasers who provide storm data and eyes on the ground, the lead time for tornado warnings has improved greatly over the last 15-20 years and undoubtedly saved countless lives.
The NWS upgraded the El Reno storm to EF-5, estimated 295mph winds and a 2.6 mile size. It was noted that at that diameter, it would not look like a normal wedge tornado.
I was also at Hallam (well, Crete to be exact) Kudos for being safe and keeping your distance here. Fortunately i had to work so i missed the madness out there. A nice shot. Lots of soul-searching going on right now.
Really nice image David. I can feel the tension and anxiety of a storm like this in your shot. Sorry about your friends and fellow chasers. Keep yourself safe.
Discussion
8 repliesObviously deeply saddened by the news. The twistex project involved placing probes in the path of tornadoes in order to collect data. There could be a more experienced, cautious chaser in the field which makes the news even more unbelievable.
I see he recently was working on million frame per second cameras to understand lightning.
What happened on Friday - which also included the Weather Channel crew in a different team, had to be a highly unexpected turn of this storm.
Hopefully Twistex lives on and more knowledge can be obtained.
It is very sad and unfortunate these scientists lost their lives in this storm. Tornadoes are highly unpredictable and they were caught by surprise despite their skill, experience and knowledge. Thanks to all the scientists and other chasers who provide storm data and eyes on the ground, the lead time for tornado warnings has improved greatly over the last 15-20 years and undoubtedly saved countless lives.