Chasing Tornadoes

Introduces the work of daredevil tornado researchers, popularly known as "storm chasers," who leave their laboratories to follow storms that form tornadoes.

Natural disasters like tornadoes destroy, devastate, and alter people's lives forever. Some people chase tornadoes for scientific purposes, while others just want the thrill of facing a twister's dangers. In this book, readers are introduced to the science behind tornadoes and to the people who have risked their lives to help us understand more about them. Graphic organizers and incredible photographs add to this glimpse into one of nature's most terrifying events.

The author profiles real tornadoes and severe weather patterns over six thousand miles of Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska, known as Tornado Alley.

Huge, towering clouds build up in the sky--it's a super cell. The Doppler radar indicates that the system is rotating. But is there a funnel? Is it touching the ground? Only a storm chaser can confirm when a tornado is present--and help meteorologists warn nearby towns.Whenever severe weather threatens, storm chasers hit the road to hunt for tornadoes, hurricanes, or violent storms. Some drive thousands of miles in just a few days as they follow a storm system from Iowa to Texas. Others serve their cities and towns by taking photos from their backyards and phoning in storm details to local weather stations. Specially trained Hurricane Hunters hop into aircraft packed with scientific instruments to fly deep into powerful hurricanes, hoping to reach the eye of the storm.Are storm chasers a bunch of foolish daredevils? Not at all. Many are scientists while others are professional photographers and videographers. Storm chasers arm themselves with training about severe weather, use sophisticated instruments, and follow safety guidelines.In Chasing the Storm, you'll meet real storm chasers and meteorologists, hear their stories, and discover how they do their work. You'll learn tornado basics, get a great window into the science of meteorology, and learn how to pursue a career in the field. You might even decide to become a storm chaser yourself!

The saga of the greatest tornado chaser who ever lived: a tale of obsession and daring and an extraordinary account of humanity’s high-stakes race to understand nature’s fiercest phenomenon from Brantley Hargrove, “one of today’s great science writers” (The Washington Post). At the turn of the twenty-first century, the tornado was one of the last true mysteries of the modern world. It was a monster that ravaged the American heartland a thousand times each year, yet science’s every effort to divine its inner workings had ended in failure. Researchers all but gave up, until the arrival of an outsider. In a field of PhDs, Tim Samaras didn’t attend a day of college in his life. He chased storms with brilliant tools of his own invention and pushed closer to the tornado than anyone else ever dared. When he achieved what meteorologists had deemed impossible, it was as if he had snatched the fire of the gods. Yet even as he transformed the field, Samaras kept on pushing. As his ambitions grew, so did the risks. And when he finally met his match—in a faceoff against the largest tornado ever recorded—it upended everything he thought he knew. Brantley Hargrove delivers a “cinematically thrilling and scientifically wonky” (Outside) tale, chronicling the life of Tim Samaras in all its triumph and tragedy. Hargrove takes readers inside the thrill of the chase, the captivating science of tornadoes, and the remarkable character of a man who walked the line between life and death in pursuit of knowledge. The Man Who Caught the Storm is an “adrenaline rush of a tornado chase…Readers from all across the spectrum will enjoy this” (Library Journal, starred review) unforgettable exploration of obsession and the extremes of the natural world.

Natural disasters like tornadoes destroy, devastate, and alter people's lives forever. Some people chase tornadoes for scientific purposes, while others just want the thrill of facing a twister's dangers. In this book, readers are introduced to the science behind tornadoes and to the people who have risked their lives to help us understand more about them. Graphic organizers and incredible photographs add to this glimpse into one of nature's most terrifying events.