Author Topic: Storm chaser dies  (Read 4508 times)

Pete McK

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Storm chaser dies
« on: June 05, 2013, 08:33:21 AM »
Tim Samaras, one of the world's best-known storm chasers, died in Friday's El Reno, Oklahoma, tornado, along with his 24-year-old son, a gifted filmmaker, some of whose fantastic documentaries have been screen by The Discovery Channel :(

Some of their brillioant photography, never publically before seen, can be viewed at:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/06/pictures/130603-tim-samaras-tornado-chaser-unpublished-pictures/?utm_source=GooglePlus&utm_medium=Social&utm_content=link_gp20130604news-unpubpics&utm_campaign=Content

Callum

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Re: Storm chaser dies
« Reply #1 on: June 05, 2013, 01:52:49 PM »
A tragic loss of life and both so young, my thoughts go to the ones they left behind. The only consolation is that they died in pursuit of their passion, whereas most of us will end our days looking out of the window of an old folks home smelling of lavender water and p*ss ;)

Terrific photos - the legacy of their work lives on - good on them :)

adi

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Re: Storm chaser dies
« Reply #2 on: June 08, 2013, 10:28:42 AM »
I have met Tim his son Paul and Carl many times whilst out chasing. They are all great guys and Tim is one of the safest chasers out there. I was following that tornado on line and it caught a lot of people out but it is hard to work what actually happened to Tim. It was a very sad day for chasers from over the world I wish I could have gone to the funeral to pay my respects.  Tim's legacy is years of data from years of tornado research that is already being used to save lives and will be for many years to come.
"We do not belong to those who only get their thought from books, or at the prompting of books - it is our custom to think in the open air, walking, leaping, climbing or dancing, of lonesome mountains by preference, or close to the sea, where even the paths become thoughtful." Friedrich Nietzsche

adi

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Re: Storm chaser dies
« Reply #3 on: June 08, 2013, 01:57:14 PM »
It was not only Tim that was caught out, many chasers where. You have probably seen this video on the news already of Brandon getting hit.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziZNsproDzs" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziZNsproDzs</a>

The Weather Chanel Tornado Hunt Vehicle of Mike Bettes got caught up in the mayhem too...



Video can be seen here

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aBLkXym-20" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aBLkXym-20</a>

Further info on this one can be seen here

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dV4mjY5L0nY" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dV4mjY5L0nY</a>

This is all that was left of Tim's Car



A very sad day indeed to put it in perspective the tornado was the widest ever recorded at 2. 4 miles wide with many mutable voracious. It is a miracle there where no other deaths as the media instructed residents to evacuate which was just wrong on the verge being criminal. This put every chaser at risk because it clogged the roads with traffic and blocked escape routes.

This image shows the Storm Relative Velocity recorded by radar live to chasers on the ground where we can clearly see the tornado and the locations of chasers indicated by the dots. The line of chasers in a north south aliment are all stuck in traffic of evacuating. All roads were grid locked. 

 

This is a screen grab I took at around the time whilst following the tornado on its track, at that time there were no reports of any major incidents coming from this storm it was just after I had posted this image that roamers that a chaser had been caught by the tornado, it was a very confusing night. But I can confirm the UK chasers managed to escape the area without harm. The time date on my image is wrong because it gives the time in the UK.

« Last Edit: June 08, 2013, 02:44:58 PM by adi »
"We do not belong to those who only get their thought from books, or at the prompting of books - it is our custom to think in the open air, walking, leaping, climbing or dancing, of lonesome mountains by preference, or close to the sea, where even the paths become thoughtful." Friedrich Nietzsche

adi

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Re: Storm chaser dies
« Reply #4 on: June 08, 2013, 03:08:27 PM »
This Video shows very nicely how complexed this storm was, It show the multiple vortices and the amazing structure of the storm.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNeLNoyGqVU" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNeLNoyGqVU</a>

Here is a video showing the approximate location on the tornado with the GNSS trackers of storm chasers

 <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVUHdCGqiSI" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVUHdCGqiSI</a>

And here is a tribute to Tom, Paul and Carl by chasers using their GNSS Trackers.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMtmrsNiVa4" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMtmrsNiVa4</a>

"We do not belong to those who only get their thought from books, or at the prompting of books - it is our custom to think in the open air, walking, leaping, climbing or dancing, of lonesome mountains by preference, or close to the sea, where even the paths become thoughtful." Friedrich Nietzsche

Callum

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Re: Storm chaser dies
« Reply #5 on: June 09, 2013, 08:47:29 AM »
They were true pioneers Adi, in the same way as some mountaineers and explorers are.

adi

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Re: Storm chaser dies
« Reply #6 on: June 09, 2013, 11:32:31 AM »
Tim has increased the knowledge of tornadoes in the past 20 years. When I first chased in the States 20+ years ago tornado warnings where given with under 5 minutes warning now the majority are issued at around 15 minutes. But more importantly advanced forecasting has improved vastly. We can now get an indication what the atmosphere is doing 21 days ahead and weather warnings are given 24 hours ahead in most cases. 
"We do not belong to those who only get their thought from books, or at the prompting of books - it is our custom to think in the open air, walking, leaping, climbing or dancing, of lonesome mountains by preference, or close to the sea, where even the paths become thoughtful." Friedrich Nietzsche

Lyle Brotherton

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Re: Storm chaser dies
« Reply #7 on: June 11, 2013, 09:11:09 AM »
As always, a fascinating post 'Blue' ;) I could see myself storm chasing, the buzz must be enormous Adi!
“Opinion is the medium between knowledge and ignorance” - Plato