I've started my countdown: 48 days until departure day for Oklahoma City. The first couple of sporadic pseudo-spring days have come and gone here in Chicago, and a week ago I once again began my ritual viewing of the Discovery Channel show Storm Chasers, which aired from 2007-2011. I first found the show in 2013, so I suppose this is my fifth year of binge watching this more extreme account of the adventure I'll be undertaking in just a couple of months.
I know it's time to start the cycle of Storm Chasers once Zugunruhe- migratory restlessness- has started to creep into my bones. Daylight savings has begun, and as a bird nerd I'm on the lookout for the first spring migrants to the Edgewater neighborhood. The weather's on the cusp of getting warmer- it's almost time for storms! Since I'll be focusing on birding opportunities on my trip if the weather isn't favorable for storms, it feels like birdwatching and storm chasing are very interconnected. I'm equally passionate and enthusiastic about both, although my interest in meteorology has a twelve year lead on my penchant for ornithology.
It's always interesting to revisit the teams that make up Storm Chasers:
Sean Casey: Beleaguered IMAX filmmaker of the now-complete epic Tornado Alley. Casey struggled for years to get his shot of a tornado coming straight at his tornado intercept vehicle (TIV). The TIV consistently breaks, Sean would get grumpily silly, and didn't always play well with others.
Dr. Josh Wurman: A preeminent tornado researcher and his team of mobile Doppler radars do science! He was very cautious, managed an enormous team, and one day I want to take the time to read his peer-reviewed research papers.
Tim Samaras: He and his team, TWISTEX, were always my favorite. He seemed to make good, conscious chasing decisions, and I admired his leadership skills. It was heartbreaking when Tim, his son, and his chase partner passed away while chasing the 2013 El Reno tornado.
Reed Timmer: The best advice I learned when shopping for storm chasing tours was when a friend's brother- a meteorologist for NWS- told me: "don't be like Reed Timmer." I didn't need to be told twice- Reed always seemed like a reckless, frat-boy persona when chasing storms, and he clearly copied the TIV design for his own Dominator. It's amusing to notice that as the show progressed, his girlfriends were local, then regional, and finally national meteorologists- in that order.
I'm currently on the 2009 episode that shows the last two teams converging on Kirksville, Missouri, as the town is devastated by a rain-wrapped tornado. It's my mom's home town, and she still has many close friends there who were impacted by the storm. The last time I was there was 1993, during the big Mississippi River flooding that took place that summer. I was seven. As the chase teams traverse the town, I keep expecting to recognize my grandparents' house, or the store that housed my great-grandfather's (now defunct) auto parts business.
Of course I paused the episode and texted my mom to see if we could take a trip down to Kirksville sometime. Perhaps this summer, after I get back from my chasing adventure. There's nothing like watching a disaster befall one's close ancestors' home turf to get the nostalgia flowing. Then again, perhaps it's the Zugunruhe talking.
