Latest news with #stormchasing
Forbes
3 days ago
- Climate
- Forbes
Manure Tornadoes, Waterspouts, Folks Surviving In Funnels? Wild Stuff
Cars on Highway 395 near Star Island, Florida, encounter a tornado on May 12, 1997, as it touches down in Miami. (Photo by Kent F. Berg/The) Getty Images The recent 'Twisters' movie (2024), preceded by the original flick 'Twister' (1996) starring Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton, has fascinated the public and inspired hundreds of regular folk to join the storm-chasing community. Some chasers are veterans who know what they're doing, like Reed Timmer, a meteorologist who has famously been chasing since the late 1990s, and Raychel Sanner of Tornado Titans. Others are amateurs cashing in on a fad. Sophisticated weather apps are now available to most anyone, and can be easily downloaded to any cellphone. There are even 'tornado tours' whereby the curious can join up to see one of nature's weirdest wonders - and pay significant bucks to do so. During my own chasing this past spring, I was lucky enough to witness half-a-dozen twisters. In the process, I gleaned a lot from the experts I chased with while spending time traveling thousands of miles with them by vehicle. One of the more interesting things I learned about is the strange behavior of tornadoes going back through history. Nelson Tucker, of the OTUS drone project (link below), mentioned a few while we chased together in the Midwest earlier this month. Below are five of the odder phenomena. Actor Glen Powell at the "Twisters" premiere in Westwood Regency Village Theatre, July 11, 2024, Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty Images) Variety via Getty Images (1) Manure Tornadoes: These are twisters which pick up dirt and animal feces as they churn across open farmland. As expected, the cones are often colored dark brown and have an odd smell. Some of the side effects are respiratory, including valley fever, and pink eye, for humans who come in contact with the menacing dust mixture. Other unlucky folks have been infected with flesh-eating bacteria from soil the tornadoes dig up from deep in the ground. Some have even died. The 2011 EF-5 monster twister that devastated Joplin, Missouri, killed five from such bacteria deposited into their wounds by the tornado. (2) It's Raining Fish: While waterspouts generally are not considered tornadoes unless they hit land, they can pick up fish, frogs and other marine wildlife and transport them great distances. If a spout does make land, the amphibious life forms sometimes drop over cities and open land as a tornado weakens - hence a strange barrage of frogs and fish found in land-locked areas. Every year, in Yoro, Honduras, for example, fish rain down on the city thought to have been sucked into waterspouts. In December 2021, folks in Texarkana, Texas, found fish of all sizes on the ground in their town after an intense storm. Various hypotheses have been offered up, but most point to waterspouts as the main reason. (3) Animals: Yes, like in the 'Twister' film, cows and other large farm animals are sometimes pulled into a tornado's funnel. Many, of course, are killed, though there have been cases of survivors. A 1915 tornado originating 16 miles from Great Bend, Kansas, reportedly picked up five horses in a barn and transported them unharmed a quarter-mile away. (4) People: It's not just animals who wind up in a tornado's cone, but humans, too. Many, like animals, are killed. Take the case of Discovery Channel chasers Tim Samaras and crew in the infamous 2013 El Reno wedge twister. But some folks miraculously survive. HEMMINGFORD, NE - MAY 28, 2006: Customers are ordered back to their van as skies darken during a Tempest Tours storm-chasing trip across the Great Plains. (Photos by) Getty Images In 2006, then-19-year-old Matt Suter was picked up in his mobile home by a Missouri tornado rated F-2 and deposited 1,307 feet away. It is a world record. Suter lived to tell the tale, though during most of his flight he was unconscious. In 1999, a baby was transported 100 feet by an Oklahoma tornado and survived. (5) Mail: It is not unusual for light debris to be carried long distances by big storms. The objects get caught in powerful tornadic updrafts which carry them thousands of feet into the air, then deposit them when the twister weakens. In 1991, for example, a tornado carried a personal check from Stockton, Kansas, to Winnetoon, Nebraska, 223 miles away.
Forbes
23-07-2025
- Climate
- Forbes
OTUS Drones Are The Next Big Thing In Storm Chasing, Just Ask The Tuckers
The OTUS Project group via drone approaching a multi-vortex tornado near Parmelee, South Dakota, ... More July 20, 2025. The tornado season in the southwestern U.S. typically runs from late March to mid-June. But as June morphs into July, tornado alley tends to meander up into the midwestern plains, particularly the northern part. Earlier this year, I spent time storm-chasing in Texas, encountering half-a-dozen twisters with Tim Bovasso, Jeff Anderson and Chris Coach. Along the way, I also met a unique chaser group called the OTUS - Observation Of Tornadoes By UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) Systems - project. They seek out tornadoes, then actually fly special drones into the funnels to gather valuable information regarding near-ground wind speed and direction, barometric pressure, humidity and the like. I was so intrigued by OTUS' science work that I profiled the group last month (link below) with the idea that I might tag along next year to watch them in action. Lo and behold, they decided to give chasing one more go this year, in the midwest, so I met them in Omaha, Nebraska, this past weekend to chase for a few days. OTUS team member Louis Tucker prepares his special drone to fly into a tornado, South Dakota, July ... More 22, 2025. The first day, Sunday, according to weather models had the lowest odds of producing a tornado - zero - while Monday and Tuesday looked substantially better. Sunday, however, was eventually upgraded to 2%, later to 5%. Armed with drones and a rental car, our group set out toward South Dakota in the morning to intercept one of two promising supercells projected to initiate later in the afternoon. Louis Tucker, the pilot, readied his drone in the car while younger brother Nelson, closely monitored the weather and directed father Louis Sr., a former Navy Seal, to maneuver various back roads to position ourselves for the best potential intercepts. It was a family affair, if you will. Two other OTUS members, due to previous commitments, couldn't be there - Erik Fox and Tanner Beard. Once a decision had been reached as to which supercell to chase, we hightailed it to the desired location, just outside of Parmelee, South Dakota, to be close enough to deploy the drone if a tornado were imminent, basically a 5-mile radius. As we watched the wall cloud at the base of the supercell form, tension within the group mounted. Everything has to be perfectly right for a tornado to drop, and you never know. Sometimes you're absolutely sure - and poof, nothing. Other times you are taken completely by surprise. Louis (left) and Nelson Tucker at work identifying the best locales to chase twisters, South Dakota, ... More July 2025. The more we watched, the better we thought our chances were. Suddenly a small bowl of dancing dust appeared on the ground, then began to rise and tighten up. We had ourselves a tornado, a multi-vorticed one at that! Louis immediately deployed the drone, sending it at over 100 mph toward the thing which was probably three miles away. En route, though, there was a slight glitch, and Louis had to return it to base before penetrating the core. That said, he captured some stunning images of the tornado as it was forming, and valuable meteorological data as well, to be analyzed later this summer. Louis Tucker of OTUS flies his drone toward a supercell in Minnesota, July 22, 2025. The next two days, which were supposed to have the highest tornado probabilities, were total busts. We traversed South Dakota, North Dakota, Nebraska and even Minnesota scouring, putting in more than 1,500 miles in the process, to no avail. The only reassuring news was that no tornadoes were reported on those days, so it wasn't us at fault. In fact, the Sunday tornado we had found was the only one reported that day. These folks know their stuff. The extra time did give OTUS a chance to locate a precious drone worth a few thousand dollars that had been lost a month back. We also got to see and photograph some majestic supercells. So next spring it is. I'm hoping we can get close enough to some big twisters so Louis can fly us inside with his drones, allowing both scientists and the public alike to see things nobody has ever seen, or measured. Spectacular mothership structure in South Dakota, July 20, 2025. Make no mistake: What these OTUS guys are doing is pure exploration, not simply walking in the footsteps of others as is the case with the insane and dangerous overcrowding on Mt. Everest. Pay attention. You will hear more about OTUS again, I can assure you, and not just from me.
CBS News
20-07-2025
- Climate
- CBS News
Sunday is a comfortable start to the week before sweltering heat returns to Pittsburgh area
Last night into this morning's thunderstorm complex did not fully materialize as well as previously anticipated. Some mid-level dry air likely played a role in keeping activity less widespread. WEATHER LINKS: Current Conditions | School Closings & Delays | Submit Your Weather Photos Still, there are some scattered showers moving across our area this morning, along with a few isolated storms into northern portions of West Virginia. All of Western Pennsylvania remains within a very warm and humid air mass and will continue to do so through the early to late evening hours of Sunday. A cold front will be moving in from the northwest and enter our northwest counties around 2 p.m., Pittsburgh metro by 6-7 p.m., and Northern West Virginia by 3-4 a.m. Monday. Some additional isolated to widely scattered storms are expected with the front as it progresses southeast this afternoon and early evening. While the front will be moving from northwest to southeast, any thunderstorm cells will move from west to east and should move quickly enough to preclude a flash flood threat. Coverage will overall be limited as well since winds along the front will not be converging strongly. Areas from the Pittsburgh metro and points south and west have the highest chance of rain. Drier and cooler air will filter in Monday morning, leading to a gradual decrease in clouds. Morning lows on Monday and Tuesday will be refreshing, with most of our area in the upper 50s to low 60s and highs in the upper 70s to low 80s, which is closer to normal for this time of year. This brief break in the excessively humid and hot conditions will be very short-lived as winds begin to flip around to the southwest by Wednesday afternoon. Temperatures will respond by warming into the upper 80s to near 90 for highs on Wednesday. Thursday and Friday will likely both exceed 90 degrees for air temperatures as a strong upper-level high migrates east to our region and low-level winds transport hot air into Western Pennsylvania from states to the southwest. Evaporation of moisture from soils and trees should help keep air temperatures only in the low 90s, but this added moisture will make for dangerous heat indices near 100 degrees Thursday and Friday afternoon and evening. The high levels of moisture will keep air temperatures from dropping much at night, with lows in the low to mid 70s, especially in the core of the urban heat island of Pittsburgh. It is likely that the National Weather Service Pittsburgh Office will issue a Heat Advisory to account for this potential. The upper high or heat dome will begin to weaken by Friday and allow a couple of weak disturbances to slip in, leading to storm chances by late Friday and Saturday. Given the amounts of heat and moisture that will be in place, there will be plenty of instability to possibly support a severe storm potential as well. Stay up to date with the KDKA Mobile App – which you can download here!
Yahoo
16-07-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Alberta storm chasers find beauty, science, community up in the clouds
You know when Environment Canada tells you a storm is coming and to stay away from it? There's a group of people based in Alberta who find their happy place in the eye of a storm, not a safe distance from it. Matt Melnyk comes by his love of clouds organically. As an airline pilot, he flies among them on a regular basis. "I've always been fascinated by clouds," Melnyk told CBC News in an interview. "Why does that one look like cauliflower, why does this one look like silk? When you see them in a thunderstorm there are so many different parts. You have the wall cloud, the shelf cloud, the cumulonimbus cloud. There are so many different parts of it. No two storms are the same, which I find super amazing." Melnyk has been storm chasing for more than 15 years. "I am part of a group called Team Dominator Canada. It's the Canadian version of professional storm chasers in the States." Mark Simpson is on the same team, but with another purpose. "My focus is mainly collecting science data so we can improve response times for tornados," Simpson explained. "Other members do photography, safety, and some others do some science as well." Simpson, who isn't a pilot, stumbled into his passion almost 30 years ago in 1996. "I supposed I got into it when I saw the first Twister movie," he said, with a laugh. "I kind of always had a passion for it and the opportunity arose when I moved to Canada. I found out there are tornados nearby so I decided to learn how to chase. I got the opportunity to go down to the U.S. due to the need to get data. I used the skills I have in electronics so I could build a sensor that we could launch into a tornado." During the summer, especially in July, Simpson stays busy. It's roughly four days on, then three days to analyze the video and data. "We are a little bit on the fringe from the research ourselves. We are not affiliated with the university. That allows us to do some things that others consider a little bit extreme," he said. But working outside the world of academia has its advantages too. "That said, the science stands on its own. You can either do it and reach that goal, or not. We do get more scrutiny but that's fine. Some of the work we do is fairly cutting edge, it's new, and stuff not being done in the universities." The goal is to get the work published, but there is also a public safety piece. "A lot of people monitor social media to see where bad weather is going to hit, so we try to give the location of the storm, the direction it is moving in, things like that." Simpson said a good sized storm can attract around 30 to 40 chasers. Meanwhile, for the pilot with a side hustle, it's about capturing a split second of magic. "I like to go out there and put myself in a position where I can get a really cool photo and come home with a postcard," Melnyk said. "When I got my first lightning photo, I was hooked right away."
CBC
15-07-2025
- CBC
Alberta's wild weather has become a magnet for a unique group of characters: storm chasers
Whether it's for science, photography or an intense thrill, storm chasers have found southern Alberta to be a good place to go about their business. Dan McGarvey spoke with a couple of them about why they do it. (Photo credit: Matt Melnyk)
