2008 UPDATE: After a successful season last year, the Storm Chasers will be hot on the trail again this year from mid-April to late June. New episodes will premiere in October, but in the meantime you can follow the team - with new vehicles and crew members - on the Storm Chasers Field Blog.
The Great Plains encompass 700,000 square miles of flatland, which is why the region is also known as "Tornado Alley." Each spring, changing weather patterns create a recipe for catastrophe. Colliding air masses crash into each other with devastating force, producing deadly twisters that ravage human life and property.
Every year, a motley collection of scientists, enthusiasts and eccentrics brace themselves for another season of storm chasing. Their goal is to spot one of Mother Nature's deadliest and most violent creations: the tornado. But for our team, seeing a tornado is not enough ... The team hopes to achieve the impossible and actually go INSIDE one of these storms!
Research meteorologist Josh Wurman has teamed up with extreme filmmaker Sean Casey to form an amazing partnership. They both share the goal of intercepting a tornado, but for entirely different reasons. Josh needs an individual who can carry his scientific instruments into the vortex of a tornado, and Sean needs someone who can direct him into the correct position to capture incredible IMAX footage. Filming from the turret of his custom-built Tornado Intercept Vehicle (TIV), Sean puts his life on the line as he endeavors to get the most elusive tornado footage ever shot. He and his battle-hardened team will risk everything as they drive the 14,000-pound armored TIV straight into the heart of a deadly twister. As the leader of the team, Josh guides the TIV and the mobile scout vehicle toward "intercept" from his captain's chair in his mobile command post -- the Doppler On Wheels (DOW) truck. Josh must make critical split-second decisions from information he gathers from his Doppler radar as the safety of the entire team rests on his shoulders.
So strap yourself into that armchair and join the chase with the Storm Chasers' crew, only on the Discovery Channel.
EPISODE 1
On the first chase, Sean, Josh and the rest of the team follow a cell that doesn't produce, missing the first tornado of the season that hits Tulia, Texas, and destroys the town. A week later weather signs rouse them early one day and they chase for hours but find nothing. Near twilight they find a storm and race to it, but last-minute adjustments cause the TIV to miss interception. Sean is ready to call it a day when Josh spots another storm near their location. It's too dark to shoot IMAX footage but the TIV team conducts a successful intercept and the scientists are thrilled with the data. But the season has only just begun.
More Episodes!EPISODE 2
After a week spent drifting around Kansas waiting for a calm spell to end, Josh, Sean and the rest of the crew are on the hunt again. They chase a huge mesocyclone across the heart of the Texas Panhandle and into the Canadian River Valley, a wilderness area completely devoid of paved roads, making the storm virtually impossible to intercept. Against Josh's orders, Sean races the TIV down a dirt road toward the point of interception, but ultimately panics and orders a retreat from the valley that threatens to trap him and his crew in the middle of the massive storm. Within a few days the team hits pay dirt when Josh manages to place SCOUT and TIV in the center of three tornados.
EPISODE 3
Five weeks into their storm-chasing season, filmmaker Sean Casey and meteorologist Josh Wurman are under the gun to intercept a tornado. Despite all of Josh's state-of-the-art technology, their efforts are failing. Conflict between Josh and Sean reaches new heights. When Josh ignores Sean's hunches, the team ends up missing a historic tornado disaster, the EF5 that levels the town of Greensburg, Kan. The day after the storm, the team visits Greensburg and is confronted with the destruction that tornadoes can cause. The danger of what they are doing hits home, but they are undeterred.
EPISODE 4
It's nearing the end of the tornado season. Although the team has had successful intercepts providing Josh with record-breaking data, Sean and his TIV team have yet to get their money shot. Sean's frustrations grow stronger as they spend multiple days chasing ghosts and driving for miles on end. To make matters worse the TIV breaks down and the team is forced to take a day off from chasing. With Sean losing hope, the team prepares for their last day of the season and sets off in pursuit of an intercept. After two fruitless attempts, Josh reports a tornado warning for Nickerson, Kan. The team rushes to the spot and Josh sets the TIV off after a promising intercept.