Discovery Channel "StormChaser" killed in tornado

It's official. I first saw this as unconfirmed, so waited; I don't see it on "search."


Stormchasers Killed

These two meteorologist (and the son of one of them) were killed when they moved in too close to a tornado. It was bound to happen sometime, I suppose, but reality TV brings people into your home you would probably never meet in person. Like these two guys.

I admit to chasing storms myself, but do so to see a potential tornado from a distance. It's on my "bucket list." Now there are so many people chasing storms, it's actually surprising that only two were killed this time around.

I hope that those other stormchasers will be a bit more cautious now.

reply to post by stars15k


That's too bad, but at least they died doing what they loved to do.

We don't yet know the details of what happened, but I suspect it was just bad luck. Sooner or later it was inevitable,

We should remember though that Tim and others like him have undoubtedly saved many hundreds of lives, both through the warnings they are able to pass on to the authorities, and the research they conduct.

These were not thrill-seekers. They were heros.

Fly now, free.

*In heaven* "Yep I died by a tornado picking me up and throwing me around"

I always wanted to be a storm chaser!! Such a thrill and weather doesn't scare me.

Some background on Tim:

www.nationalgeographic.co.uk...

dsc.discovery.com...

Tim created a probe that can safely measure things from inside a tornado.

These guys are heros, they chase down these monsters so people on the ground have a better idea of the track of the storm.

*Bows*

I seen the videos of the carnage from inside their truck.
Scary stuff, the worst part is the blackness, its so dark you cant see your hand in front of your face.

I just hate this kind of news, I love stormchasers. They ARE heros, and I hope they went without much suffering.

Originally posted by Casualboy100
*In heaven* "Yep I died by a tornado picking me up and throwing me around"

I always wanted to be a storm chaser!! Such a thrill and weather doesn't scare me.

Weather doesn't scare you? You must be lying or have no common sense.

Mother nature is about the most powerful force there is.

Well, they died doing what they lived to do. I can respect that. I wouldn't choose it myself or recommend anyone else chase those things.....as this is bound to happen by sheer odds, eventually, yet still? The storm chasers I know in the Missouri area here are all mixed for purpose. It's always about the adrenaline rush and thrill of the chase, of course ...but also the desire to do something meaningful in most cases. Find that one shot that shows something important or help with the discovery of a unique behavior to these beasts that helps kill them in the future.

I can think of far worse ways to go..and for far less noble causes.

R.I.P to what have become our modern day adventurers. May they catch their dreams in the next life. (Warm Smile)

did you know the discovery channel is having a bad year for losing film makers....that's the third loss......dangerous flights lost a crew.....and another show had a loss this year.

reply to post by GBP/JPY


Wasn't the crew for the Anti-Poacher show featuring Rhinos in Africa also a discovery channel one? I watched a few episodes and grew to like the show before moving on to other things...but caught in the news where one of their helicopters had crashed with the loss of all on-board. Tragic... they were doing good work for the Rhinos in the game preserves over there too.

Well, no one lives forever and may we all be so lucky as to die doing what we love and for a good cause.

I watched all this unfold on the weather channel the other night.

The problem these guys encountered was the sheer size of these storms and the multiple vortexes. This crew and even ANOTHER crew took a direct hit from satellite tornados. The other crew had two of their three chase vehicles thrown 200 meters off the road. They were all ok, but then they had to pile into their now disabled third vehicle to try and outrun the storms, but they were in a bad position and had to core punch (drive into the super cell core) to outrun yet ANOTHER tornado at 20 mph.
Scary stuff.
At the time they weren't talking about Tim's crew and I was wondering why. Now I know.

There was lots of footage of chasers getting caught by this storm that night. It was a freak storm.
One scan showed a debris field that measured 2.5x4 miles wide. EF5 strength easily.

Godamn Rinos get the do gooders but the people get the shaft.....
Dont you think it would be better use of money and also good "reality" TV, to use the chopper for people in need?
I get sick of the save the whales save the polar bears, save the planet crap.....
Meanwhile people most everywhere are suffering like they havent for a while......but who gives a cayoose crap about that...?
Bloated starbing black people are not politically acceptable subjects.
probly shoulda put that in rants i guess....

Just to clarify.. the video that is around of the tornado hitting the car is the TIV 2 and Sean Casey's crew.

Tim and the Twistex team always struck me as being very cautious. They never EVER attempted to get too close to a storm on purpose. It must have been one terrible set of circumstances for this to happen, and I feel really bad for their families right now.

It makes me disgusted that I saw this story posted on CNN, and read some of the comments on there. People are really just pitiful.

reply to post by DerekJR321


They got hit by a satellite twister that came out of nowhere. It is sad.


Sterling: the helicopter is great and all, but as pointed out above, a lot of these guys are researchers as well. They do ver important work on the ground. Tim developed equipment to get readings inside a tornado. His contributions to the field save lives.

So sad, Tim was one of the smart ones that was more focused on research than headlines. What a tremendous loss. RIP

Sometimes the good guys lose. Freaking sucks.

So sad. These crazy amateur thrillseekers lived for the kicks they got out of flirting with danger. Finally, danger caught their eye.

RIP.

I believe it was said that the casualties were the first ever for storm chasers. So these people do play things very very safe indeed.
A freak accident, and so so sad.