Storm Chaser Dazzles UNH with Video Footage

“We are in a tornado!” screamed professional storm chaser and meteorologist Reed Timmer.

This past Wednesday a group of 60 University of New Hampshire Students and Faculty gathered in the Strafford room to listen to Timmer discuss his experiences as a storm chaser.

The group was entertained by several videos that documented Timmer and his team’s experiences with tornadoes. Driven by their love of extreme weather, the goal of their work is to collect data and warn the public about storms.

“Storm chasers help out immensely in the warning process,” he said.

The team reports their work to the National Weather Service, which then issues alerts to communities that are in the path of severe storms. The team also sells much of their video footage to the Discovery Channel. They are also excited to appear on an episode of Myth Busters set to air later this month.

Timmer’s team spent years getting as close as possible to tornadoes, but still wanted to get closer. They decided that to really understand a tornado, they must experience it from within.

“Our goal is to drive into the funnel,” said Timmer.

To make this concept a reality, they constructed a Storm Research Vehicle, nicknamed, “The Dominator.”

According to TornadoVideos.net, the vehicle has the engine of a 2007 Chevy Tahoe and is reinforced with bulletproof sheet metal and transparent Lexan armor for protection against flying debris. It is also equipped with an external roll cage and NASCAR-style safety harnesses for the unlikely event of a vehicle roll. The feature that makes the vehicle truly storm resistant is its hydraulics system which lowers it flush to the ground. In order for something to be lifted by the vertical winds of a tornado, air must be able to get underneath. By creating an airtight seal to the pavement, the Dominator is able to withstand the incredible energy of a tornado’s vortices.

“It’s incredible technology,” said Timmer.

Despite the protection that the vehicle offers, their work is undoubtedly dangerous. In 2007, before the construction of the Dominator and while chasing a tornado in western Oklahoma, the driver’s side window of a vehicle was shattered from intense wind pressure, causing blood to stream down the left side of Timmer’s face.

He warned the audience that although he is a professional, his work is very risky.

“You should not try to drive into tornadoes. For sure.”

Timmer was not always fearless of weather and admits that he was scared of thunderstorms as a child. This fear eventually developed into intense curiosity. His career as a storm chaser began at age twelve, when he grabbed his parents’ video camera and ran outside to record a hail storm.

University of New Hampshire junior, Allison Hitchings was inspired by Timmer’s work.

“What he does is really great. He had an interest as a kid, and instead of settling when he grew up, he chased his dream-- literally.”

Since his early days of storm chasing, both the quality and intensity of his footage has improved, but his passion for extreme weather has remained the same.

Gasps were heard from the audience as they watched the videos. Along with the incredible visual footage, the audio from the videos was also entertaining. Listeners could hear the yelling of the storm chasers in several clips. In one video, a tornado rapidly shifted course and headed directly toward the crew while they sat, parked in an unarmoured vehicle.

“Put up the window. Put up the window!... Back up. Back up. Keep going! Seriously!” yelled Timmer.

In another video the team’s car was badly damaged by a hail storm. The windshield was shattered and one storm chaser urgently warned the others to “Keep your eyes shut. Shield your eyes!”

Many living in New England assume that tornadoes don’t strike this part of the country. According to Mary Stampone, New Hampshire’s Official State Climatologist,

“They most definitely can form in our area and contrary to popular belief, are not rare.”

“New Hampshire on average can expect 1 or 2 tornadoes a year and most commonly occur during late July,” she said, “although we can go a year or two without one, or have a year with more than two.”

Stampone admits that tornadoes are much less common here than they are in the Central Plains.

“Tornadoes will form here on days when localized convectional heating produces strong thunderstorms and, if conditions are right, rotation within the thunderstorm may produce a funnel cloud that reaches the ground.  The conditions for this are usually very warm, humid days, which is why tornadoes most commonly form here in late July.”
“I didn’t realize that we could have tornadoes in this area,” said New England resident Michaela Knight.

If confronted with a tornado, Timmer’s advice is this-- “There’s nothing you can do except take shelter.”

The strength and potential devastation of these storms is remarkable, as is their beauty.

In the final video of the presentation, Timmer and his crew stood on a deserted road, the sky opened up, and a funnel cloud formed and touched down, creating a perfectly white tornado. The crew stood in awe and watched as it danced gracefully around the empty plains.

Just quickly as it touched down, the tornado melted back into the sky.

Timmer sighed, “It’s beautiful.”