Twisters: 10 Things the Movie Got Right

 Happy August, Friend!  Hope it's been a good one so far.

It's fitting that just as the severe weather slowed down, Twisters was released. Naturally, I saw it opening weekend—and it was great!

This blog covers:

•  What Twisters got right
• When to stop to take tornado pics
• Why the Moore EF5 storm was so powerful

TWISTERS: 10 THINGS THE MOVIE GOT RIGHT

The movie is the sequel to the 1996 cult classic Twister. Since its release on July 19th, it has already grossed over $170 million at the box office. Because of its popularity, I thought it would be fun to review the movie from a chaser's perspective.

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!

Here are 10 things I believe the movie nailed:

1. Forecasting tools - in the opening scene, Praveen is shown looking at the Storm Prediction Center Mesoanalysis page for forecasting—a realistic touch! Throughout the movie, storm chasers are often seen using Gibson Ridge radar software, which many chasers, including myself, commonly use.
2. Chase forecasting concepts - in one scene, Kate explains her forecasting strategy to Tyler. To the east, there's a volatile environment, but the cap is strong. To the west, there are a pair of supercells, though the ingredients aren't as impressive. I found this to be a surprisingly realistic depiction of chaser decision-making!
3. Chase tour vans - 15-passenger vans appear in the movie, which is very realistic for those who have been storm chasing!
4. Sleeping in vehicles - as the movie begins, chasers are seen waking up in their vehicles. This certainly happens!  For example, Skip Talbot is known for sleeping in his van to save money.
5. Social media - in several scenes, characters use their cell phone cameras to record weather updates for their social media audiences. This practice is now nearly ubiquitous among chasers!
6. Chaser driving habits - in one scene, Kate dangerously passes Tyler on a narrow road. Unfortunately, unsafe passing is common in storm chasing.
7. Cell signal problems - in one scene, Javi and Scott are chasing a rain-wrapped tornado when they lose cell signal. This situation is a very scary and realistic aspect of storm chasing
8. Overpasses are not shelters - in the heart-pounding opening scene, a group of scientists abandons their stuck vehicle as a tornado approaches. Despite one character correctly noting that overpasses don't provide safety from tornadoes, they head there anyway.
9. Oil refineries & tornadoes - during the penultimate tornado scene, a large tornado hits an oil refinery, creating a massive fireball and a 'fire tornado' that forces Javi and Scott to scramble. While dramatic, fireballs and tornadoes can occur together. A recent example is the EF2 tornado that struck a refinery near Hendersonville, TN, on December 9, 2023.
10. Tornado appearance - I was most impressed by the realistic depiction of storms in the movie. Unlike the first film, the tornadoes had visible storm structure above them. The storms also featured visual rotation and rear-flank downdraft clear slots. The tornadoes looked extremely realistic, with a "fuzzy" appearance that accurately reflects real tornadoes, compared to the overly crisp look in the original movie.

CHASE TIP OF THE MONTH

One of the hardest decisions in storm chasing is knowing when to stop and take images.

TORNADO SCIENCE MINUTE

The last EF5 tornado to officially hit the United States struck Moore, Oklahoma, on May 20, 2013. For more than a decade, I thought its intensity was due to an outflow boundary, but recent research proves otherwise.

The Tornadogenesis Project has shown that the Moore tornado's supercell had no boundary interactions. Their surface analysis confirms this finding.

So, if the boundary wasn’t the cause, what was? Despite other storms forming, none matched the Moore tornado’s intensity. The key lies in a critical storm merger that occurred just as the tornado became violent.

The project found that the southern updraft had winds around 70 knots at approximately 700 mb—20 knots stronger than the surrounding environment. This created the conditions necessary for the tornado to intensify dramatically. Scientists attribute these strong winds to a mesoscale jet streak at 700 mb, which transformed an ordinary tornado environment into one capable of producing a violent tornado.

For more information, check this video out!

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Well, that's all for now.  Hope you enjoyed it!

- Gabe Garfield

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