What’s the point of chasing storms? What’s the advantage of being in hsrm’s way as opposed to a safer distance?
Our Haunting Last Interview With Storm Chaser Samaras
Tim Samaras and his son died in Friday’s El Reno, Oklahoma tornado.
What are you trying to figure out about tornadoes?
We still don’t know why some thunderstorms create tornadoes while others don’t. We’re trying to collect as many observations as possible, both from outside and from the inside [of tornadoes].
This tells us several things. If we understand the [storm’s] thermodynamic profile—what’s the temperature, what’s the humidity like, how cool is the air outside of the tornado—these are clues that help us to measure a thunderstorm that may produce a tornado.
If we better understood some of the final mechanisms for tornado genesis, our forecasting will be greatly improved.
We’re also trying to address tornado dynamics—how powerful the winds are near the surface—which will help us address some of the engineering issues with home building.
Maybe there are some simple things we can do to a house that would help it withstand a [lower-intensity] tornado.
Well The folks I know do it because they are adventurous and have scientific minds AND there 8i money to be made.
I got hit with a mesocylone, it ripped the wall off a steel building like peeling a sardine can open, it sucked up 3 remote buildings, and when I woke up at 4 AM I saw the video on the weather channel LOL
The Boss had already filmed the damage and sold the film LOL