Posted on 06/02/2013 9:52:39 AM PDT by jimbo123
Storm chaser Tim Samaras was killed Friday doing what he loved: chasing tornadoes. He and his son Paul perished in the El Reno, Oklahoma tornado along with frequent partner on storm chasing adventures, photographer Carl Young.
Samaras had a long relationship with National Geographic, providing some of our most memorable videos of storms.
(Excerpt) Read more at newswatch.nationalgeographic.com ...
I don’t mean to diminish anyones death, but this was another example of borderline suicide. He didn’t just “die”, he got himself killed through intentional acts.
“It would seem to me that a seasoned storm chaser would realize setting up North-east of an active storm, was about the worst thing you could possibly do.”
Very true if your objective is stay out of the tornado’s way. But, these guys are trying to stay in front of the thing so that they can drop their probes in the expected path.
Looks like in this case that they were roughly paralleling it west-to-east when the darn thing made a hard left turn right into them and they couldn’t react fast enough.
You’re right. I follow a few of the more famous storm chasers on Facebook, and they keep pushing the envelope further and further in terms of how close than can get to the big monster storms without getting hurt. This time, the risk taking finally caught up to them.
I think these guys were chasing the storm parallel to its west-east track. And when the tornado started tracking to the northeast, they tried to outrun it before it crossed the highway and got hit head on.
They were probably caught up in the excitement of being able to get great footage while it was tracking to the east and didn’t think ahead about what would happen if it started tracking in a more normal direction.
When I ponder the term “Storm Chaser” two other words come to mind... “Dumb” and “Asses”
The man’s work probably did and will continue to save countless lives. That he would put himself in harm’s way to do what he did was commendable. It was a dangerous job but he certainly knew that.
I will add this one to my collection.
RIP.
That’s a reasoned retort.
Seems like they could set up a truck and some drop probe set-ups, so they could go down a road and drop them off in a line, so the storm could naturally run across one of them without them having to be right in front of it at the time of passage.
Well something along those lines took place. I sure don’t like the outcome. Sad.
bump for later read
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJ74x4geALc
[about his car] "Don't worry, it's tornado proof."
I wonder if they're going to take it off the air now that Samaras's car wasn't so tornado proof.
I think that belongs to the Dept of Homeland Security.
Well, the tornado’s sudden “turn” caught them all of guard and almost killed several others who were running parallel to it at the time. Reed Timmer has such a tank called the “Dominator 2”, and it has pins and anchors that hold it to the ground. The tornado sucked its hood off, and they’re still looking for it today.
I really think these vehicles offer a false sense of security.
See my #34...Reed lost the hood to his tank and is still looking for it.
“Seems like they could set up a truck and some drop probe set-ups...”
That is one thing in watching these guys that I never could understand. Their probe deployment was always manual......stop vehicle, get out, run to the back and get probe out, set probe up, run back to vehicle, take off. I always wondered why someone hadn’t come up with some way to drop the probe out without people actually having to get out to do it. Seems like it would be quicker and safer.
Another was the way they handled the probes. Always very careful with it, treating it gently. Heck, the thing is about to get sucked up into a tornado. There’s nothing they could do to it that the tornado can’t.
When I was a kid I was on a YMCA canoe trip on a big lke in MN . When a storm blew in and our hair stood on end. Everyone thought it was a kick ..not me. I told the counselor we got to get to an island now. Somehow we did.
The only actual explanation I’ve seen that describes how they got killed:
http://www.theweatherspace.com/2013/06/02/tim-samaras-his-son-and-carl-young-oklahoma-tornad/
What’s the first thing you learn growing up in tornado country? “Tornadoes are unpredictable and can change direction at any time, for this reason never try to outrun a tornado”. These storm chasers position themselves on the northeast side of the storm, but all it takes is one storm to veer to the northeast...
“It would seem to me that a seasoned storm chaser would realize setting up North-east of an active storm, was about the worst thing you could possibly do.”
Amen! This was my immediate thought as soon as I saw the track. Basic Storm Tracking 101! Actually remedial storm tracking.
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