With the movie "Twisters" out in the theaters - a sequel of sorts to an earlier film - Don and John have an episoded out now where they talk with meteorologist Carl Parker about the science behind tornadoes and how they form.
The Musical Innertube - Volume 2, Number 150 - Carl Parker talks about Twisters
In the meantime, here's a little something from Don about the earlier "Twister" film:
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Back in 1996, I was working as a weatherman at a TV station in Harrisburg when the movie "Twister" was released. It got my attention because it was about a group of rag-tag storm chasers trying to plant sensors inside tornadoes to get better data on how they form in the atmosphere. This data could lead to longer warning times for communities before tornadoes hit, allowing people more time to take shelter.
Of course, it was a Hollywood blockbuster, so Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton could drive right up to the edge of a massive tornado - even hang on to iron pipes as it passed over them - and come out without a scratch. The local newspaper (remember them?) asked me and a couple other local TV weathercasters what we thought of the movie. Below is a copy of the resulting article:
