Tim’s probe has proven so capable: Julian Lee and Tim Samaras, “Pressure Measurements at the Ground in an F-4 Tornado,” https://ams.confex.com/ams/11aram22sls/techprogram/paper_81700.htm.
Tim basks in recognition and praise: Interviews with Julian Lee.
The first hint of an answer: Interviews with Bill Gallus.
Tim is not just the leader: Interview with Josh Wurman.
Tim was irked: Tim Samaras email correspondence.
This sets off alarm bells: Ibid.
CHAPTER TWELVE: A TEAM OF UPSTARTS
Tim has in mind a woman: Interviews with Cathy Finley and Bruce Lee.
The other permanent member: Interviews with Bob Young.
a connection of an altogether different sort: Interviews with Matt Winter.
he seems a little chagrined: Interviews with William Gallus.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN: TWISTEX TAKES THE GRAVEL ROAD
He pulls Tim into a quiet room: Interviews with Josh Wurman.
Basically, “TWIST”: Tim Samaras email correspondence.
Lee and Finley have standing invitations: Interviews with Bruce Lee and Cathy Finley.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN: QUINTER, KANSAS
From the lead car: Chris Collura, May 23, 2008, chase video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dikGjoPmeqI.
The mesonets tack north along a sodden dirt road: Ibid.
That probably isn’t good: Interviews with Bruce Lee and Cathy Finley.
“That whole thing’s a tornado!”: Ibid.
“We got a great view of this amazing”: Stefan Bechtel, “Tornado Hunter: Getting inside the Most Violent Storms on Earth,” National Geographic Society, 2009, 91–93.
Minutes later, on the outskirts of town: Tim Samaras, Driven by Passion II, DVD.
Karstens felt privileged: Interviews with Chris Karstens.
The night after Quinter, this potential is on everyone’s mind: Interviews with Bruce Lee and Cathy Finley.
Storm chasers have practically commandeered Applebee’s: Interviews with Bruce Lee.
He cues up his video of the day: Doug Kiesling, May 23, 2008, chase video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fzk_vnGftYE.
“somebody’s gonna get bit”: Bechtel, “Tornado Hunter,” 99.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN: “YOU HAVE MY ONLY SON”
In his eyes, Tim is a giant: Interviews with Kathy Samaras.
Beyond them, suspended mist: Samaras, Driven by Passion II.
he’d go see them alone the first time: Interview with Jenny “Samaras” Scott.
He takes photographs of tangerine sunsets: Paul Samaras, Facebook page.
The young man is thrilled: Interviews with Kathy Samaras.
Hail piles in pristine drifts: Ed Grubb, May 15, 2010, chase video, Campo, Colorado.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN: WARNINGS
The media probe logged a direct hit: Bruce D. Lee, Catherine A. Finley, and Timothy M. Samaras. “Surface Analysis near and within the Tipton, Kansas, Tornado on 29 May 2008,” Monthly Weather Review, February 2011.
on the cusp of the 2009 season: Interview with Rebecca Martin, National Geographic Society.
For the moment: Interviews with William Gallus.
The instinctual calculus: Ibid.
In December 2008, the Discovery Channel reaches out: Interviews with Bruce Lee and Cathy Finley.
His . . . costars, Reed Timmer and Sean Casey: Discovery Channel’s Storm Chasers.
The fifty-five-year-old pensioner: Interviews with Ed Grubb.
Under the watchful eye: Interviews with William Gallus.
The team surrounds the storm: Karen Kosiba and Joshua Wurman, “Genesis of the Goshen County, Wyoming, Tornado on 5 June 2009 during VORTEX2,” Monthly Weather Review, April 2013.
Rare are the moments: Interviews with Jenny Samaras Scott.
new probe vehicle: Jeff Glucker, “Storm Chasers Adds Super GMC Sierra to Tornado Chase Fleet,” AutoBlog.com, November 14, 2010, http://www.autoblog.com/2010/11/14/storm-chasers-adds-super-gmc-sierra-to-tornado-chase-flee/#slide-265823.
“What I’m hoping for”: Tim Samaras, Storm Chasers, season 4, episode 4.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: BOWDLE, SOUTH DAKOTA
TWISTEX misses the year’s first major tornado: Interviews with Ed Grubb.
They stop off in Minneapolis: Interviews with Bruce Lee and Cathy Finley.
Best of all, they learn that VORTEX2: Interviews with Cathy Finley.
Around four that afternoon: Mesonet dash-camera footage provided by Bruce Lee and Cathy Finley.
North of the mesonets: Storm Chasers, season 4, episode 5.
The circulation is closing in: Samaras, Driven by Passion II.
Off to the west: Mesonet dash-camera footage provided by Bruce Lee and Cathy Finley.
As they enter the outskirts: Ibid.
Even more striking: Catherine Finley and Bruce Lee, “Mobile Mesonet Observations of the Rear-Flank Downdraft Evolution Associated with a Violent Tornado near Bowdle, SD, on 22 May 2010” (American Meteorological Society conference paper, 2010).
Grzych and Carl’s appraisal: Mesonet dash-camera footage provided by Bruce Lee and Cathy Finley.
The following day: Storm Chasers, season 4, episode 5.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: A DEAD END, A NEW CHANCE
He had always been a hit: Interviews with Kathy Samaras.
now too often congested with mesonets: Ibid.
Curiously, the camera operators: Interviews with Bruce Lee and Cathy Finley.
Aside from a few harmless dramatics: Interviews with William Gallus.
The premiere is a major event: Interviews with Bob Young.
funding seems to arrive at the last minute: Interviews with Bruce Lee and Cathy Finley.
after-action interviews: Interviews with Bruce Lee, Cathy Finley, Ed Grubb, Tony Laubach.
One evening, they attend a concert: Interviews with Melissa June Daniels.
When Lee and Finley approach: Interviews with Bruce Lee, Cathy Finley, and Ed Grubb.
The event that epitomizes: Interviews with Ed Grubb.
On April 27, near Aliceville, Alabama: Ibid.
Suddenly, they spot a tornado: Tony Laubach, chase footage, April 27, 2011, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ttni6owIWsw.
No one argues when Grzych notes: Storm Chasers, season 5, episode 1.
Later that day, near Pleasant Ridge: Interviews with Ed Grubb.
By the September 25 premiere of . . . third season: Interviews with Kathy Samaras.
In early 2012, Tim phones Lee and Finley: Interviews with Bruce Lee and Cathy Finley.
Tim insists that TWISTEX will return: Interviews with William Gallus.
Out of work and now semiretired: Interviews with Geoff Carter.
Hurricane Isaac is already darkening: Tim Samaras Twitter account.
During some thunderstorms, electrical discharges: Interviews with Walt Lyons.
“When you approach eight hundred thousand”: Video of Tim Samaras in the LIV provided by Walt Lyons.
“I want to see that formation process”: David Drummond, Dryline Media interview with Tim Samaras, February 2010, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FycVcmpYTfM.
Soon, he and Paul are on the trail of a powerful EF4: Tim Samaras chase video.
he . . . gets about half of what he’d asked for: Interviews with Bruce Lee and Cathy Finley.
CHAPTER NINETEEN: CHASE NIRVANA
For the first time since 2011: Interviews with Ed Grubb.
With the sun setting in the background: Chase video, May 18, 2013, provided by Ed Grubb.
It’s like the early years: Interviews with Ed Grubb.
That night, the four check into a Comfort Suites: Interviews with Ed Grubb, Marc Austin, and Sharon Austin.
“You spend three or four days in a vehicle”: Jane J. Lee, “A Tornado Chaser Talks about His Science and Craft,” News, National Geographic.com, May 22, 2013, http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/05/130520-tornado-chaser-samaras-thunderstorm-science/.
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sp; Carl steers the probe truck: Chase video, May 20, 2013, provided by Ed Grubb.
“Careful! It’s right next to us”: Ibid.
“Wow! That was pretty exciting”: Paul Samaras chase video, provided by Kathy Samaras.
Any grievance must seem trivial: Interviews with Ed Grubb.
Two elementary schools: Erica D. Kuligowski et al., “Preliminary Reconnaissance of the May 20, 2013, Newcastle-Moore Tornado in Oklahoma,” National Institute for Science and Technology Special Publication SP 1164, December 2013.
what happened in Moore was no foregone conclusion: Jon Erdman, “Moore, Oklahoma, Tornado 3 Years Later: What Turned It Violent?,” Weather Channel, May 19, 2016, https://weather.com/storms/tornado/news/moore-oklahoma-tornado-2013-research.
That night, the crew busts on a storm: Interviews with Ed Grubb.
By the time they pass Robinson Avenue: Paul Samaras chase video, provided by Kathy Samaras.
If they could have gotten closer: Kuligowski et al., “Preliminary Reconnaissance.”
The house is a flurry of activity: Interviews with Kathy Samaras.
On May 29, they settle around Salina: Interviews with Walt Lyons.
a familiar crew pulls up behind them: Interviews with Bruce Lee and Cathy Finley.
“We killed it”: Interviews with Cathy Finley and Bruce Lee.
the three stop off in Alva: Interviews with Walt Lyons.
CHAPTER TWENTY: A SHIFT IN THE WIND
At around four that afternoon: Interviews with Rick Smith.
a nerve-racking twelve-hour shift: Interviews with Marc Austin.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: EL RENO, OKLAHOMA
A white Chevy Cobalt: Interviews with Gabe Garfield.
The dire language: “May 31, 2013, 2000 UTC Day 1 Convective Outlook,” Storm Prediction Center, National Weather Service, http://www.spc.noaa.gov/products/outlook/archive/2013/day1otlk_20130531_2000.html.
The values this afternoon are astonishing: Interviews with Jeff Snyder.
At 5:41 p.m.: Timeline provided by Gabe Garfield.
The distended wall cloud pulses: El Reno Tornado Environment Display, courtesy of Anton Seimon, http://el-reno-survey.net/ted/.
Over . . . twenty minutes they cover roughly three miles: Interviews with Gabe Garfield.
Tim’s face appears in profile: Video stills, portions of video transcript, and timeline from 2014 National Storm Chasers Convention presentation by Gabe Garfield.
“Oh, my God”: Ibid.
Within seconds of the first wisps, there is a tornado on the ground: El Reno Tornado Environment Display.
“My God . . . Wow, look at the tornado! Just to our south”: 2014 National Storm Chasers Convention presentation by Gabe Garfield.
Instead, it seems to be receding: El Reno tornado-track timeline, width, radar centroids, via Google Earth, courtesy of Gabe Garfield.
They continue south for a mile: Interviews with Gabe Garfield.
“Is the airport down another mile?”: 2014 National Storm Chasers Convention presentation by Gabe Garfield.
At 6:04 p.m.: Interviews with Jeff Snyder and Howie Bluestein.
Nearby, his RaXPol mobile radar generator thrums: El Reno tornado footage from RaXPoL, courtesy of Jeff Snyder, https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=EFwJAlg0qWc.
Bluestein . . . only two options: Interviews with Howie Bluestein and Jeff Snyder.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: THE DRAGON’S TAIL
At 6:12 p.m. they’ve finally arrived at their east route: Interviews with Gabe Garfield.
“Okay, we’ve gotta be careful in case this thing wraps up”: Interviews with Gabe Garfield; 2014 National Storm Chasers Convention presentation by Gabe Garfield; and Robert Draper, “Last Days of a Storm Chaser,” National Geographic, November 2013, http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2013/11/biggest-storm/draper-text.
“We’ve got debris in the air”: 2014 National Storm Chasers Convention presentation by Gabe Garfield.
Tim sets the camera down: Interviews with Gabe Garfield.
Directly to their south: El Reno Tornado Environment Display.
At 6:16 p.m., Josh Wurman: Joshua Wurman et al., “The Role of Multiple-Vortex Tornado Structure in Causing Storm Researcher Fatalities,” Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, January 2014.
Wurman and his colleague Karen Kosiba: Interviews with Josh Wurman.
Much of what follows will be discovered: Wurman et al., “Role of Multiple-Vortex.”
Those questions will come later: Interviews with Josh Wurman.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE: THE CROSSING
The white Cobalt . . . shoulders through an inflow current: Interviews with Gabe Garfield.
“Now we go up north . . . then east”: Ibid.
“the tornado is about five hundred yards away”: 2014 National Storm Chasers Convention presentation by Gabe Garfield; and Draper, “Last Days of a Storm Chaser.”
The last update refreshed nearly five minutes earlier: Interviews with Gabe Garfield.
US 81 disappears: El Reno Tornado Environment Display.
“So, this is the highway”: 2014 National Storm Chasers Convention presentation by Gabe Garfield.
Due south of the intersection: Mike Bettes, Weather Channel live report, May 31, 2013, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4WfuhUrWHs.
Bettes rides in the front passenger seat: Interviews with Austin Anderson.
The blinding rain is the first sign: Chase video from inside the SUV provided by Austin Anderson.
The bus driver: Nolan Clay, “El Reno Tornado Survivor Tells of Others’ Deaths,” Oklahoman, June 7, 2013, http://newsok.com/article/3842601.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR: THE LAST RIDE
Carl races across: Rear-dash-camera footage provided by Dan Robinson.
the radar is misleading: Interviews with Gabe Garfield.
“Now I see it”: Ibid.
“In fact, uh, keep going”: 2014 National Storm Chasers Convention presentation by Gabe Garfield.
headwinds upward of 110 miles per hour: Interviews with Gabe Garfield.
But we do know what happens inside the storm: Wurman et al., “Role of Multiple-Vortex.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE: HOW FAR FROM DAYLIGHT
Dan Robinson knows nothing of the headlights: Interviews with Dan Robinson.
Moments after the subvortex enters Reuter Road: Interviews with Howie Bluestein and Jeff Snyder.
The tornado has transformed dramatically: El Reno tornado footage from RaXPoL, courtesy of Jeff Snyder, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrfAfJNBT3A.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX: GROUND TRUTH
Shortly before 7:00 that evening: Interviews with Doug Gerten.
“signal 30”: Canadian County Sheriff’s Office Radio Call Log, May 31–June 1, 2013.
He snaps a picture . . . will soon spread: Interviews with Gabe Garfield.
Too restless to sleep: Interviews with Marc Austin and Sharon Austin.
The day after: Interviews with Kathy Samaras.
Tuesday morning, Garfield and Fox return to Reuter Road: Interviews with Gabe Garfield and Erik Fox.
the details are grounded in fact but open to interpretation: Interviews with Kathy Samaras.
A second theory: Samaras, Driven by Passion.
He stops near the creek: Interviews with Doug Gerten.
Pieces of the Cobalt: Personal observation.
“Does this look familiar?”: Interviews with Matt Winter.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN: THE SIGNS
Ed Grubb kneels on the front lawn: Interviews with Kathy Samaras, Ed Grubb, and Ben McMillan.
One of the first photographs: Paul Samaras, photograph of Tim and lightning strike, May 9, 2013.
He’s wearing faded jeans: Paul Samaras, unfinished documentary footage of Tim Samaras.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT: TIM’S LEGACY
Their weapons of choice: Tim Samaras, “A Historical Perspective of In Situ Observations within Tornado Cores” (American Meteorological Society conference p
aper, 2004).
Tim’s TWISTEX partner: Interviews with Bruce Lee.
The scientific community, however, has already answered: Interviews with Josh Wurman and Tim Marshall.
“Tim showed that it could be done”: Interviews with Gabe Garfield.
One analysis indicates that this is already happening: Elizabeth Mannshardt and Eric Gilleland, “Extremes of Severe Storm Environments under a Changing Climate,” American Journal of Climate Change, September 2013; and interview with Elizabeth Mannshardt.
One of the most promising new research initiatives: Interviews with Leigh Orf, Bruce Lee, and Cathy Finley.
EPILOGUE
Loretta opens her journal: Journal entry of Loretta Yost, June 24, 2003.
JUST PAST SUPPERTIME: Memorial plaque, Manchester, South Dakota.
He brakes at an empty field: Interviews with Loretta Yost and son Lockwood.
INDEX
A note about the index: The pages referenced in this index refer to the page numbers in the print edition. Clicking on a page number will take you to the ebook location that corresponds to the beginning of that page in the print edition. For a comprehensive list of locations of any word or phrase, use your reading system’s search function.
Against the Law (film), 123, 176
air travel industry, 46–47, 48
American Meteorological Society, 134, 154
Anderson, Austin, 223, 224
anemometers, 121, 139, 158, 242, 250
anvil clouds, 13, 16, 39, 97, 203, 207
Applied Research Associates (ARA), 59, 60–61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 75, 76, 113, 120, 128, 158, 180, 184
Aurora, Colo., 30, 34, 132, 147
Austin, Marc, 190, 200–201, 202, 203, 204, 235–36
Austin, Sharon, 151, 190–91, 235–36
Beckman & Whitley Model, 184, 185
Bedard, Al, 54–55, 63–64, 110, 111
Bennett, Colo., 174, 189, 195, 196, 244–45, 247–48
Bettes, Mike, 222, 224
Bluestein, Howie, 54–57, 63, 110, 111, 114, 155, 210–12, 231–32, 249
boundary layer/core, 7, 8, 41–42, 43, 52–54, 57, 62, 87, 90, 113–14, 115, 121, 123, 143, 155, 181, 249, 250
of El Reno tornado, 218, 227, 228, 229
HITPR’s measuring of, 106, 109, 110, 112
VORTEX2’s goal of measuring wind flow in, 115, 116
Bowdle tornado (2010), 162–72, 173, 176, 180, 181, 206
Bray, Okla., 2013 tornado in, 191–92
The Man Who Caught the Storm Page 28