Stormchasers were killed in Oklahoma event

[SaskatchewanScreamer]

RIP

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YO1RA-tkWI[/youtube]

He mentions his focus was studying tornadoes not going into them.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FycVcmpYTfM[/youtube]

[lurkey]

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/201 ... n-oklahoma

Tim Samaras had one passion in life: Tornadoes. He told The Weather Channel that when he was kid, his mother sat him down in front of The Wizard of Oz and he was immediately entranced by the violent, dark twister that tore through the landscape.

Samaras went on to become one of the premiere storm chasers in the country. He was an engineer who designed probes that captured information at the base of the tornado, the part that can destroy homes and buildings in seconds.

The problem — and the exhilarating part — is that in order for those probes to work, they had to be put in the path of the tornado. It meant Samaras and his team would head out every spring to Tornado Alley in search of the mythical storms.

On Friday during one of those missions, Samaras, along with his 24-year-old son Paul and his friend 45-year-old Carl Young were caught by the large tornado that tore through El Reno, Okla.

The three of them were among the ten who were killed.

Storm chasers became a big part of that story early on, when we learned that the tornado flung a Weather Channel car clear across a highway. The car was totaled but everyone was OK.

Mike Bettes, one of the chasers on board, issued a statement asking everyone to "respect the weather." Nate Johnson, a meteorologist for WRAL-TV in North Carolina responded with an ominous blog post. It was a titled: "Some day our luck will run out." It was followed by images of smashed vehicles and a map showing dozens of storm chasers awaiting the El Reno twister.

Jim Samaras, Tim's brother, announced his death on Facebook today. He said that all three died "doing what they loved": "Chasing tornados. I look at it that he's in the 'big tornado in the sky..."

That love was apparent in an interview Samaras gave National Geographic in May. Samaras described what it's like to stand in awe of a twister. He said:

"You can see in detail the tornado, the wind flow; you can actually hear it. And the sounds are different. If [the tornado is] in an open field, it sounds like a waterfall. If it's in a populated area, it becomes more of a thundering sound.

"And then actually even the smell of tornadoes—if you're in the right place, you get a strong odor of fresh-cut grass, or occasionally, if it's destroyed a house, natural gas. Sometimes you get that raw earth smell, similar to if you run a bulldozer over open land."

Two days before the top-of-the-scale EF-5 tornado ripped through Moore, Okla., Samaras was in south-central Kansas. His son was in the driver's seat. The wind picked up, the barometric pressured changed. Then, stunningly, beautifully even, the deep, dark clouds start rotating, forming a funnel. Within a couple of minutes, the tornado is on the ground, its base twirling earth with unbelievable ease.




As soon as the tornado lifts, Samaras runs out of the vehicle. The wind is whipping, the sun is setting and the funnel is dancing to his left.

Samaras looks up to take in the moment and he says, "Wow!"

[brunota2003]

http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/02/us/midwes ... homepage-t

There's the CNN article.

[cycloneye]

Dr Jeff Masters has a great blog about this tragic news.

http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMa ... rynum=2423

[RL3AO]

Storm chasers know how to do dedications.

[Hurricaneman]

Storm chasers know how to do dedications.

This is an awesome tribute

[cycloneye]

Video of El Reno tornado.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7U9jyz65mA[/youtube]

[brunota2003]

I posted this on fb, but I wonder if they had any probes deployed, and if anyone has recovered them? His death could also be his finest hour, depending on the data any deployed probes picked up.

Also, there have been a few calls for people to search for the cameras they had, so we can find out what exactly happened to try to avoid such tragedy from striking again.

[SaskatchewanScreamer]

"Tim Samaras was by far one of the most well respected researchers. There’s no one out there that knew his stuff more than him," Kourounis told CTV News Channel.

But despite the Colorado native’s experience, Friday’s tornado, which left more than 100 people injured, was too much for the storm chaser and his team to handle.

"When it comes to Mother Nature, it doesn’t matter how much you know, how many decades of experience you have,” Kourounis said. “When things go bad, they can go bad very quickly. And of course these tornadoes are so powerful that we’re just a small force compared to them.
"

Kourounis said Friday’s tragedy has made him reconsider how dangerous storm chasing can be.

"(Their deaths) make me realize that maybe we need to revaluate and be a little less cocky."


....

Read more: http://www.ctvnews.ca/world/storm-chase ... z2V5raW6zJ

[vbhoutex]

Before and after of their truck. STUNNING!!
https://www.facebook.com/robbware/posts/10151691650117154

[brunota2003]

I'm beginning to wonder, do chasers need to modify their vehicles and have a sturdy structure put in the interior? Like a beefed up roll bar? It won't prevent injuries, but possibly help save lives in the event of a roll over/toss.

[artist]

I'm beginning to wonder, do chasers need to modify their vehicles and have a sturdy structure put in the interior? Like a beefed up roll bar? It won't prevent injuries, but possibly help save lives in the event of a roll over/toss.

I know Reed Timmer's dominator 2 has a roll cage. It lost its hood in the May 31st tornado.
You can read about them here -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SRV_Dominator

[Hurricaneman]

I'm beginning to wonder, do chasers need to modify their vehicles and have a sturdy structure put in the interior? Like a beefed up roll bar? It won't prevent injuries, but possibly help save lives in the event of a roll over/toss.

That wouldn't be a bad idea, I would think something similar to what NASCAR uses in their cars

[Bunkertor]

Now, that´s terrible news. I saw a vid of the guy setting up those red detection items.

[EF-5bigj]

I can't even tell it was a truck it looks like just a mangled piece of metal

[Cyclenall]

This is shocking and horrible news, didn't know about it until CNN updated the new death toll. I guess that unbelievable tornado was the straw that broke the camel's back, our collective luck ran out . When I first heard that chasers got hit by that thing, I thought it would be difficult to survive it and only injuries came out at first. But wow, Tim Samaras and his team were at the forefront of tornado research. I haven't heard about them in years but I actually saw a National Geographic doc from 2003 just last November featuring the team deploying the probes into a tornado for the first time (its called National Geographic Ultimate Explorer Inside the Tornado). To now know that team is gone is hard to believe. We need to figure out what happened, any camera footage or otherwise should be looked for.

What I question is why did it take so long for this news to come out? We knew about the others within minutes but how could no one notice a missing team until late last night? Also I stated that there has never been a recorded case of a storm chaser dying in a tornado, well add that grim first to the already historic day in weather history.

Now, that´s terrible news. I saw a vid of the guy setting up those red detection items.

Yeah that's the show I was talking about, a German was also with them that time by the name of Carson taking photos and video.

Storm chasers know how to do dedications.

(Image Cut)

How? I thought there wasn't storms today (June 2) in that part of the country.

[vbhoutex]

This is shocking and horrible news, didn't know about it until CNN updated the new death toll. I guess that unbelievable tornado was the straw that broke the camel's back, our collective luck ran out . When I first heard that chasers got hit by that thing, I thought it would be difficult to survive it and only injuries came out at first. But wow, Tim Samaras and his team were at the forefront of tornado research. I haven't heard about them in years but I actually saw a National Geographic doc from 2003 just last November featuring the team deploying the probes into a tornado for the first time (its called National Geographic Ultimate Explorer Inside the Tornado). To now know that team is gone is hard to believe. We need to figure out what happened, any camera footage or otherwise should be looked for.

What I question is why did it take so long for this news to come out? We knew about the others within minutes but how could no one notice a missing team until late last night? Also I stated that there has never been a recorded case of a storm chaser dying in a tornado, well add that grim first to the already historic day in weather history.

Now, that´s terrible news. I saw a vid of the guy setting up those red detection items.

Yeah that's the show I was talking about, a German was also with them that time by the name of Carson taking photos and video.

Storm chasers know how to do dedications.

(Image Cut)

How? I thought there wasn't storms today (June 2) in that part of the country.

The news started coming out late Saturday when a more thorough check of who had been in the area was done and when authorities had really had a chance to check the area out. I imagine the delay was also due to notification of next of kin. Remember there was horrible chaos surrounding this particular tornado. A lot of normally cautious and good chasers were caught off guard by this one as the mesocyclone that the tornado(s) was imbedded in at times measured close to 5 miles across. I have seen reports of 100+mph winds well over a mile from the tornado itself and it was multi-vortex also.

[angelwing]

I have not been on line all weekend...read everything today....thoughts and prayers...RIP:(

[WeatherGuesser]

Anybody hearing anything about another incident with a chaser vehicle being hit by a semi?

[brunota2003]

http://www.kansas.com/2013/06/03/283099 ... rnado.html

I'm sure this will be the first article of many, people calling for regulations of storm chasing. While I agree it is next to impossible to do that, that doesn't mean people aren't going to try.