Tornado scientists love tornadoes and tornadoes. Here’s why

The meteorological community Twister, A 1996 blockbuster film about scientists chasing tornadoes, the movie is a little light on the science and certainly more action-packed than your average tornado-chasing movie, but it’s also undeniably fun, dramatic, and captivating — and remains a favorite of many meteorologists and weather enthusiasts (including the author of this article).

The sequel to the film was recently released and excitement is building. TwisterScientific American We reached out to tornado experts Rick Smith and Jana Hauser to talk about why so many in the weather community love the original movie, what they think about the sequel, and the pros and cons of tornado research. Smith is a warning coordination meteorologist with the National Weather Service (NWS) in Norman, Oklahoma. Twister Hauser is a meteorologist from Ohio State University who provided forecasts and other support to the film’s cinematographer as he chased storms and shot real storm scenes and clouds.(The following conversation contains spoilers for the new film.)

(An edited transcript of the interview follows:.

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I grew up having tornado drills in school, and I vividly remember my parents waking me up in the middle of the night to go down to the basement. As a teenager, we would visit my grandmother in the summers. TwisterI remember thinking straight from the title sequence, “I want to know all about this. This is amazing” (and I felt the same when I rewatched the film recently.) I really identified with Helen Hunt’s character of Jo Harding, and this film sparked my interest in weather and earth science in general.

Smith: Like a lot of people in this industry, I’ve been interested in weather, especially tornadoes, for as long as I can remember. At the same time, I had an abnormal fear of thunderstorms, especially nighttime thunderstorms. I grew up in the Southeast, in Memphis, Tennessee. And that fear probably continued into my early teens. But at the same time, I was obsessed with tornadoes. I would go to the library and check out books over and over, and I would write to the NWS to get them to send me pamphlets and brochures and stuff. I guess I was a real nuisance. But at some point, it became more positive or less scary. I actually volunteered at the NWS office in Memphis. Then I was paid to be employed as a student, and then I became a full-time employee.

I’ll never forget, when I was working for the NWS in Memphis. Twister I remember thinking it was the biggest thing in the world when it came out, and feeling very special that there was a screening on the Wednesday night before it came out on Friday (May 10, 1996). I thought I was “smashing it.” I went with some office buddies and it was what you’d expect: lots of laughter, groans and grumbling. They were just there to criticize, and I wasn’t. I’ve been a fan ever since, and I freely admit that I stop and watch parts of it every time I change the channel…even to this day. And regardless of what the new movie is or what we think about it, Twister It will always hold a special place in my heart.

Hauser: We joke in this field that we are genetically engineered from birth to have a propensity and love for storms. I grew up in eastern Pennsylvania, so it wasn’t a tornado-prone area. I never experienced a tornado as a child. My interest really piqued when I was probably in second grade. I remember playing with my cousin where my dad had a thermometer and a rain gauge. She would pretend to be a cameraman and I would pretend to be a little weather forecaster standing in front of the camera, looking up at the sky and saying, “Oh, these are the clouds. There’s going to be some sunshine.”

Then, in April of 1991, there was a really big tornado that had a big impact on me. I was in about third grade at the time, and I remember being fascinated by it. I was scared of thunderstorms as a kid. Like Rick, I would go to the library and pick up anything I could find. And that passion just stuck. I always wanted to pursue meteorology.

when Twister I was still a teenager when it came out and I really remember thinking, “Yup, this is what I want to do with my life.”

Is it cool to watch the old film and the new one and see yourself represented and celebrated as a meteorologist? They both feel like love letters to people who are obsessed with tornadoes.

Smith: You have to step away from scientific thinking to enjoy the film, but I think the new film has more connections and is more realistic in many ways.

on friday Twister That transpired and we were leaving at 6am the next morning for my first ever chase trip. That really set the stage and set the level of disappointment very high on departure.

Hauser: Well, my first experience with tracking. Eight We only had one tornado and we haven’t had eight since – that first experience set the bar so high that it hasn’t been met.

I didn’t touch it much, but Twister In my personal life as a teenager, this movie was a really inspiring movie for me. I still love it. Like Rick said, I still love watching this movie. It’s got its little quirks and its little missteps, but it’s so exciting and it’s such a passionate experience. And, TwisterThe film portrays the chase culture in a relatively realistic way. You’re not trying to outwit a tornado, and there’s no scientist-vs-YouTuber aspect to it, at least not in the context depicted in the film. But it’s cool to see the terminology. And I totally applaud Rick and the other science advisors in the film for using the terminology used in the field when talking about storm interactions and cold puddles.

If I know anything about geoscience and go to a movie related to it, I have to try really hard not to spoil it for other people. I was worried about the “calming a tornado” part. TwisterBut I can understand their reasoning for trying to dissipate the tornado, and I can certainly be skeptical.

Hauser: Yeah, I totally get why they did it for the storyline. It fits the storyline. My biggest concern is, teeth People who are really stupid enough to try this. Every year, or maybe a few times a year, people contact me and say, “Hey, has anyone tried to do this?” or “I have a really great idea for this.” And I’m like, “No, you clearly have no idea.”

Smith: You teeth I’m forwarding a lot of my calls to you! Good for you.

I was wondering if any members of Congress would actually think this could be done – would anyone try to lobby the NWS to dissipate tornadoes? Similarly, would someone who is interested in storm chasing but has no experience in it think, “Let’s set off fireworks in a tornado?”

Smith: It will happen.

Hauser: It definitely happens.

Smith: It’s definitely going to happen before the end of the year.

But, yeah, the science behind the (tornado) mayhem is, Kevin Kelleher (former deputy director of the National Institute for Severe Storms) was a full-time tornado consultant on the film. He was there from the early stages of the script and did everything he could, and they were very receptive. In fact, the science behind it is all there. But the practicality is not there. You need 20,000 tons of the stuff (used in the film to absorb moisture) and you need to be able to put it in just the right part of the storm quickly. And how do you pick the storm? And if you get a downburst from the storm when it breaks down, it’s probably going to be worse than the tornado would have been if you’d just left it alone. There are a lot of problems with that, but it was a dramatic moment and a cool ending to the film, so I’m okay with it. I really hope that no one actually thinks that’s even possible.

I really love taking a more emotional journey with the main character, Kate, in this film.

Smith: In both of these films, there’s a dramatic event that kind of kicks off the film, that sets the protagonist on a journey. But Jo’s reaction is that she’s obsessed, and she wants to be in the tornado, she wants to see it. Whereas Kate quit her job and went to work for the NWS for five years. I’m pretty big on PTSD. We’ve been presenting at conferences and stuff, and it was nice to see the subject being addressed in the film. You see that in[Kate’s Daisy Edgar-Jones’ performance]when she comes back to Oklahoma and[Anthony Ramos’ character]Javi is driving her in his truck. They drive under the bridge, and the way she drives under the overpass and looks at the overpass, you get a sense of how she’s probably feeling. So the dramatic event is in both films, but the impact it has on the protagonist is different.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Hauser: I was excited to be involved in any capacity, and it was a really great opportunity for me to get out and experience tracking in a different way. I’m a professor, so I spend most of my time out doing research or taking students out for experiential learning. So with this film, I was able to really focus on the visual aesthetic.

Smith: I was honored to have a small part in it, too. I met with the cast before they started shooting and we did a spotter training class for them, and kind of a tornado culture thing. I think they responded really well. And I got to be on set for the “blink or you’ll miss it” scene at the NWS office. Before we even started shooting the movie, we were setting the scene: “Welcome to Oklahoma. We’re doing a movie about tornadoes, but we’re actually living with people who get hit by tornadoes all the time and who have experienced traumatic events themselves.” It was really awesome to be in it. And I hope they do a sequel. I don’t think it’ll take 28 years.