09 April 2004

Tornado chaser featured in National Geographic

A dramatic photograph of a tornado is featured on the cover of the April 2004 issue of National Geographic magazine. In the accompanying article, writer Priit J. Vesilind and photographer Carsten Peter provide a dramatic account of the adventures of storm chaser Tim Samaras, who works as an engineer in Denver, Colorado, when he's not chasing tornadoes.

Samaras is more than a storm chaser, for he also does serious tornado science. According to the article, he is responsible for placing four of five data probes that have been passed over by tornadoes. Data from one of these probes showed that the atmospheric pressure dropped 100 millibars as the tornado passed over.

Besides spectacular photographs of tornadoes and the damage they cause, the article includes a 2-page map of the United States annotated with the tracks of many hundreds of tornadoes that have occurred since January 1950.

A preview of the magazine article and a photograph of Tim Samaras watching a tornado is available at http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0404/feature1/index.html.

Forrest M. Mims III.