Tim Samaras

During the early evening of Friday, May 31st, professional storm chaser Tim Samaras, along with his son Paul Samaras and partner Carl Young, died in the 2 mile wide 2013 El Reno tornado. This tornado was the largest tornado ever recorded in human history, and although the crew had plenty of experience in chasing and observing dangerous storms the El Reno tornado made a sudden turn left while also increasing its speed and width exponentially. This made escape impossible for Tim Samaras and his crew, which sealed their fates and took them from the world in a moment's breath. Unexpected events and lack of forecasting makes severe storms dangerous, even for the most seasoned storm chasers, and a desire to protect civilians from the damages caused
But these scientists make life changing discoveries that protect people rather than harm them. A center of human empathy and a natural urge to guard those who are similar around us fuels storm chasers to create new things and teach the general public about safety during severe storms. In a statement about the aforementioned late Tim Samaras and his crew, CNN expressed that, "they chased tornadoes... in the hope that their research might help people" (McLaughlin, Carpenter, Shoichet 1). Seeking an adrenaline rush may be a part of what drives a storm chaser to dive headfirst into the heart of a storm, but to properly paint the bigger picture there has to be the motive of protection behind it. From creating new technologies to observing telltale patterns, "Tim (Samaras) was a scientist. He was out there to... protect the public" (McLaughlin, Carpenter, Shoichet 3). From those who are just beginning their journeys, to those who have weathered even the most powerful of obstacles, all storm chasers have a dedication to use their research for the good of those around them, no matter how big or how small it is. Above all, without all of their efforts to protect the society around them, people would be in much more danger than they are now when a catastrophic event
From a rating system of tornadoes based on the damage they create, to small instruments that transmit data used in creating weather forecast maps on the news every single day, storm chasers contribute to a higher awareness of the conditions of the world around people as they go on with their daily lives. Tetsuya Fujita created the Fujita scale in 1951, and, "the Fujita scale... classifies tornadoes on a hierarchy... F0... to F6" (Stevens 1) based on their recorded and sustained wind speeds. This scale has been remodeled to the Enhanced Fujita Scale, which rates tornadoes based on their damage output, but the Fujita Scale still serves the purpose of giving tornadoes a rating that helps the public to understand how that tornado made an impact on a certain area. Another useful addition to meteorology are the radiosondes, which, "... transmit temperature, moisture, and pressure data back to a ground station... for constructing weather maps" (Graham, Parkinson, Chahine 2). And these weather maps aren't just used by forecasters; the people who send out advisories and watches study weather maps of the past to determine a common theme in a certain area so they are better able to predict the weather for that area rather than just assuming. However, weather maps are not the only form of weather observation that