Chasing the storm...

It takes a special breed of person to chase powerful storms and tornados. Most folks hear the warning sirens and head for shelter, but there are a few hearty souls who are so fascinated and intrigued by the storms that they actually seek them out. At 9 Thursday night, WPT will present a documentary called Tornado Glory. It is a film by Ken Cole that follows storm chasers Reed Timmer and Joel Taylor as they follow dangerous tornados and come face-to-face with some of the harshest storms.

Be more Tuned In speaks with Timmer to find out what drives a person to become a storm chaser, how close he has come to a tornado and how the pursuit of the next big storm drives chasers throughout North America.

Fittingly, when we catch up with Timmer via cell phone, he and Taylor are in the midst of a chase. On the road, the excitement of a potential storm is obvious in his voice as he describes the ideal conditions for tornados that are forming in South Dakota and he is only one hour away. This excitement is unique for someone like Timmer, because his relationship with storms wasn't always this positive.

"When I was younger, I was very afraid of storms," he explains. "But, at the same time, I was always fascinated with them. That soon grew to obsession -- to the point where I would watch the Weather Channel 12 hours a day." (Continued...)

As he headed off to college in 1998, Timmer hadn't yet seen a tornado in person. His home in Grand Rapids, Mich. wasn't ideal for storm formation with Lake Michigan halting many of the potential weather systems. So, he decided to pursue meteorology studies in Oklahoma -- a hotbed of tornadic activity. Since that time, he has gotten his bachelor's and master's degree and is in the process of obtaining a PhD.

At the University of Oklahoma, Timmer met Taylor and Cole. Taylor had the same passion for storms and Cole was a film student. The result was Cole's documentary that follows the two storm chasers through a busy 2003 season.

"It's great to have something like Tornado Glory to show people what it really means to chase storms," Timmer says. "It's exciting, but there is a lot more than just the pictures and videos. It's probably about 99 percent driving -- we drive about 50,000 miles each year."

And, while Timmer and Taylor make some money by selling their videos to television stations, film companies and other storm fanatics via their Web site (Caution: The videos on the linked site might contain adult language), Timmer is quick to point out that it isn’t the most lucrative career.

"Last year, we did pretty well," he says. "But the year before that, we came out about $5,000 in the negative."

In the realm of storm chasing, there are more than gas costs to be considered when deciphering profitability. Just this year, Timmer and Taylor have had at least two windshields crushed by huge hailstones. Last year, their car was submerged during Hurricane Katrina. After being stranded, they hitched a ride on a passing boat and were never able to retrieve the car. And, their vehicles have sustained a couple of direct hits from tornados during the past few years.

"In Southeast Nebraska in 2002, we were actually hit by the Hallam tornado, which was the widest tornado (2.5 miles) in history," Timmer says. "Luckily, it was an F-1 when it hit us. By the time it hit the town, it was an F-4."

Armed with a wireless-connected laptop, a lot of photo equipment and cell phones, the duo and their partners use their meteorology knowledge to attempt to forecast the location of pending storms. Those forecasts take them from the border of Mexico through Canada each year. Along the way, they've been featured on national media outlets, including interviews with Paula Zahn and Anderson Cooper. Their storm chases aren't merely selfish either. When they gather information, they always share it with local law enforcement.

"We're obviously not happy when these storms do damage to people or their property," Timmer says. "But, seeing the power of these storms is truly incredible. We help as much as we can and then back out of the way when emergency vehicles arrive."

With his pending doctoral degree, Timmer says he isn't looking for an out from the storm-chasing business. Money or not, it is a passion and he is in it to stay.

"Really, I might just try to be a professional storm chaser," he says. "I've never needed much, so I'd probably be happy making $5,000 a year and living in a beat-up Yugo."

With that, Timmer mentions an anvil cloud formation in the sky ahead and bids farewell as he and Taylor push on into the pending storm.

Photos courtesy tornadovideos.net and stormgasm.com.