Summer is here, so out comes the sun, the shorts and sandals…and the storm chasers.
The southern portions of Alberta and Saskatchewan have turned into tornado zones this year, with storms normally over the Great Plains travelling north, bringing extreme weather – and two of America’s top storm chasers, Reed Timmer and Chris Chittick.
“There is an adrenaline angle… I really like excitement… Just standing next to a tornado – that is so beautiful and so powerful… it’s amazing to me,” Timmer told Global National‘s Francis Silvaggio.
“The atmosphere we’re standing in right now comes together in perfect harmony to create something so organized, (it’s) amazing to me.”
The pair has seen more than 400 tornadoes since they started chasing and studying them 15 years ago.
Chittick says, “Each tornado is different. You just kind of go with it. You still have (a) ‘What the hell am I doing right now?’ (moment) but it goes away pretty quickly.”
Now Timmer and Chittick’s mutual passion for extreme weather have brought them and their team – as well as other tornado hunters – to Canada.
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“Right now, southeast Alberta and southern Saskatchewan look more favourable for tornadoes, even strong tornadoes, than anywhere else in the world right now,” adds Timmer.
However, Global Calgary meteorologist Jordan Witzel says getting close to a twister is tough. “We as a whole group have pinpointed the whole moment of when it is possible, but there is still that initiation of a tornado that is still unknown.”
“You can still get as close as you want, but that final tipping point to produce is tornado is still unpredictable.”
Of course, catching a tornado is also very risky. Timmer and Chittick are well aware of the danger.
“We know the ones that are too strong to get too close to or inside. But we need to get that close to deploy our instrumentation to better understand those wind speeds,” explains Timmer.
“We’re just trying to learn how fast the wind speeds get and collect other data like temperature, moisture and pressure. Our goal is to get a 3D x-ray of the tornado, especially right near the ground when the tornado interacts with friction. That’s when things really get complicated.”
“I was sitting right here and the tornado was out the other window,” Chittick says, recalling one instance. “So I was on my knees trying to lean over our other camera operator trying to get my shot, then a huge hail stone came in and hit me right in the back.”
Despite the dangers, there are some precautions Chittick doesn’t take anymore when he ventures into the storms. “I used to wear a cup and then a full catcher’s outfit, ’cause I used to go out and collect hail, but I’ve retired since then, so I haven’t been hit in a while. It kind of lets me know it’s something to be scared of.”
It’s not just Timmer and Chittick getting pelted by Mother Nature. Timmer’s armoured vehicle has been battered too, which has logged nearly 80,000 kilometres every year.
But it’s all worth it, all to get close to the action.
“I don’t ever see me stop storm chasing for the rest of my life,” Timmer said.
“I think the day we’re not afraid is the day we should stop chasing.”
Follow Francis on Twitter: @FJSilvaggio
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