Storm Chasers Killed. RIP

[gnihcraes]

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/local-news/colorado-storm-chaser-tim-samaras-killed-in-oklahoma-tornado-along-with-son-longtime-partner

Colorado storm chaser Tim Samaras, his son Paul Samaras, and longtime chase partner Carl Young were killed in the EF-3 tornado that tore through El Reno, Oklahoma Friday.
Tim and Paul were both born and raised in Lakewood, Colorado but most recently were living in Bennett.
Tim Samaras was considered a leader in storm chasing expertise and worked with 7NEWS, National Geographic, the Discovery Channel, Boeing, and the federal government.
A family member posted this statement on Tim Samaras' Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/tim.samaras/posts/10200670572299536) at 5:30 a.m. Sunday morning:
"I'm Jim Samaras - Tim Samaras's brother. Thank you to everyone for the condolences. It truly is sad that we lost my great brother Tim and his great son, Paul. Our hearts also go out to the Carl Young family as well as they are feeling the same feelings we are today. They all unfortunately passed away but doing what they LOVED. Chasing Tornado's. I look at it that he is in the 'big tornado in the sky...' We (the family) will keep folks aware of what the funeral estrangements are, but please in the meantime keep Tim and Paul in your thoughts and prayers."
Tim Samaras was 55 and his son Paul was 24. Carl Young was 45. “Carl and Tim were the best of friends,” and chased many times, Jim said. Carl Young’s father Bob Young told CNN his son always wanted to be a meteorologist.
Tim founded TWISTEX (Tactical Weather Instrumented Sampling in Tornadoes EXperiment) to pursue tornadoes and advance the research and warning available to the public.
“Tim Samaras has led, designed, and fielded complex instrumentation research efforts over the past 30 years,” the TWISTEX website says.

[streetglideok]

I read that this am. It's ironic, because they weren't the extreme chasers trying to get into the twisters like Reed Timmer. WJ0G-SK

[buffalobo]

Wow, sad to hear. I met Tim Samaras and his crew in 2010 while they were chasing a storm that passed south of us. They were setting up equipment to take measurements of the storm as it approached.

[bogie]

A hazardous profession.

RIP

[Rabid]

After seeing some of the videos of that storm i am surprised only 9 people lost their lives. At least he died doing something he was passionate about. Here are some pretty amazing videos taken that day and some really lucky storm chasers http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=2422

RIP

[Mtn.man]

After seeing some of the videos of that storm i am surprised only 9 people lost their lives. At least he died doing something he was passionate about. Here are some pretty amazing videos taken that day and some really lucky storm chasers http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=2422

RIP

Yes this.

[zteknik]

Sad to hear.
At first when I heard about storm chasers I thought they were nutjobs with a death wish.But after reading about what they do I was impressed.All the information they gather so they can warn people about the direction of the storm.
Those guys have some brass cojones.

[hatidua]

Tornadoes are oddly mesmerizing up close but they sure wreck some lives each year. I'm thankful they aren't nearly as prevalent in CO as in some other states.

[TheGrey]

Growing up in Mn, I saw more than what I wanted to of tornadoes and the devastation they wreak. This is very sad news...

[streetglideok]

Sad to hear.
At first when I heard about storm chasers I thought they were nutjobs with a death wish.But after reading about what they do I was impressed.All the information they gather so they can warn people about the direction of the storm.
Those guys have some brass cojones.

There are a few who really push the limits, but Tim and his crew weren't one of them. A lot of the people who watched the show storm chasers were critical of him for not going as close as some do around twisters. This was a strangely behaving storm, and it caught a lot of veterans off guard sadly. He also was a local, coming from Lakewood originally.

[theGinsue]

I wrk with a Carl Young. He's a III (third). I think he has a son named Carl too (IV). I hope this wasn't one of his relatives.

[sniper7]

Sad news

[OtterbatHellcat]

I met him once....at a 9 News weather expo thing they used to do. He was showing off his prototype storm pods. My wife and I are both certified skywarn spotters and we used to chase in the mid and late 90's. It's not a death wish thing at all, it's really about the fascination of mother nature and we always had equipment with us to pick up wind speed, baro pressure, etc etc.and we had numbers for the NWS that we could call that info into. True chasers are trying to get information about storms...not videos of death and damage to make a buck on.

My respects to their families and relatives.

[Double00]

Prayers to the families!!

[rondog]

Yes, sad to hear, but the odds are against people in risky professions, someday they may lose in a freakish way, like Steve Irwin. But God bless people like them for trying to study those storms for better predictions and warnings. I grew up in OK and still have a lot of family there.

I'd like to chase them too, but just for photos and videos. And not for profit or carnage, I'm no paparazzi.