Latest news with #TimBovasso
Forbes
6 days ago
- Climate
- Forbes
OTUS Drones Are The Next Big Thing In Storm Chasing, Just Ask The Tuckers
The OTUS Project group via drone approaching a multi-vortex tornado near Parmelee, South Dakota, ... More July 20, 2025. The tornado season in the southwestern U.S. typically runs from late March to mid-June. But as June morphs into July, tornado alley tends to meander up into the midwestern plains, particularly the northern part. Earlier this year, I spent time storm-chasing in Texas, encountering half-a-dozen twisters with Tim Bovasso, Jeff Anderson and Chris Coach. Along the way, I also met a unique chaser group called the OTUS - Observation Of Tornadoes By UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) Systems - project. They seek out tornadoes, then actually fly special drones into the funnels to gather valuable information regarding near-ground wind speed and direction, barometric pressure, humidity and the like. I was so intrigued by OTUS' science work that I profiled the group last month (link below) with the idea that I might tag along next year to watch them in action. Lo and behold, they decided to give chasing one more go this year, in the midwest, so I met them in Omaha, Nebraska, this past weekend to chase for a few days. OTUS team member Louis Tucker prepares his special drone to fly into a tornado, South Dakota, July ... More 22, 2025. The first day, Sunday, according to weather models had the lowest odds of producing a tornado - zero - while Monday and Tuesday looked substantially better. Sunday, however, was eventually upgraded to 2%, later to 5%. Armed with drones and a rental car, our group set out toward South Dakota in the morning to intercept one of two promising supercells projected to initiate later in the afternoon. Louis Tucker, the pilot, readied his drone in the car while younger brother Nelson, closely monitored the weather and directed father Louis Sr., a former Navy Seal, to maneuver various back roads to position ourselves for the best potential intercepts. It was a family affair, if you will. Two other OTUS members, due to previous commitments, couldn't be there - Erik Fox and Tanner Beard. Once a decision had been reached as to which supercell to chase, we hightailed it to the desired location, just outside of Parmelee, South Dakota, to be close enough to deploy the drone if a tornado were imminent, basically a 5-mile radius. As we watched the wall cloud at the base of the supercell form, tension within the group mounted. Everything has to be perfectly right for a tornado to drop, and you never know. Sometimes you're absolutely sure - and poof, nothing. Other times you are taken completely by surprise. Louis (left) and Nelson Tucker at work identifying the best locales to chase twisters, South Dakota, ... More July 2025. The more we watched, the better we thought our chances were. Suddenly a small bowl of dancing dust appeared on the ground, then began to rise and tighten up. We had ourselves a tornado, a multi-vorticed one at that! Louis immediately deployed the drone, sending it at over 100 mph toward the thing which was probably three miles away. En route, though, there was a slight glitch, and Louis had to return it to base before penetrating the core. That said, he captured some stunning images of the tornado as it was forming, and valuable meteorological data as well, to be analyzed later this summer. Louis Tucker of OTUS flies his drone toward a supercell in Minnesota, July 22, 2025. The next two days, which were supposed to have the highest tornado probabilities, were total busts. We traversed South Dakota, North Dakota, Nebraska and even Minnesota scouring, putting in more than 1,500 miles in the process, to no avail. The only reassuring news was that no tornadoes were reported on those days, so it wasn't us at fault. In fact, the Sunday tornado we had found was the only one reported that day. These folks know their stuff. The extra time did give OTUS a chance to locate a precious drone worth a few thousand dollars that had been lost a month back. We also got to see and photograph some majestic supercells. So next spring it is. I'm hoping we can get close enough to some big twisters so Louis can fly us inside with his drones, allowing both scientists and the public alike to see things nobody has ever seen, or measured. Spectacular mothership structure in South Dakota, July 20, 2025. Make no mistake: What these OTUS guys are doing is pure exploration, not simply walking in the footsteps of others as is the case with the insane and dangerous overcrowding on Mt. Everest. Pay attention. You will hear more about OTUS again, I can assure you, and not just from me.
Forbes
11-06-2025
- Climate
- Forbes
Tornado Chaser Chris Coach: You Never Forget Your First One
A tornadic mothership supercell, near Santo, Texas, May 18, 2025. The U.S tornado season is wrapping up. For me, it was a fruitful one, having seen multiple twisters this past spring, my very first photogenic one near Silverton, Texas, on April 24. I had been storm chasing with veterans Tim Bovasso and Jeff Anderson at the time (story link below). Three weeks later, I found myself back in Texas, giving thrill rides to NASCAR Racing Experience customers at the Texas Motor Speedway near Dallas. A friend of Bovasso's, Chris Coach, 26, asked if I wanted to chase with him on my day off, Sunday, May 18. There wasn't a high probability for tornadoes that day in the immediate area around DFW - maybe 2% - so we weren't too excited. But hey, you never know. Tornado forming near Santo, Texas, May 18, 2025. Around 2:30 p.m., Coach picked me up at my hotel, with - surprise - his entire family in the back of a Honda Pilot: wife, Seiyana, and five kids. What's important to know here is that Coach had never seen a tornado, despite having chased a few dozen times going all the way back to 2021. So, if we found one, it would be a big deal, both for me and for a frustrated Coach. Traffic wasn't bad for a Sunday, and we made good time north toward Santo, where a supercell, the giant cloud structure that produces tornadoes, was building. Using his cellphone radar app - you could tell he had done this before - Coach navigated us via smallish back roads to a farm. Across the flat fields in front of us, we watched the sky slowly darken and the lightning pick up. Powerful stovepipe tornado off of I-20 near Santo, Texas, May 18, 2025. An ominous black Wall Cloud (WC) with rotating air appeared directly below the supercell, perfect conditions for a tornado to drop. We waited and Sure enough one of the rotating nipples hanging from the WC began snaking its way toward the ground. The funnel danced and flickered, as if it wasn't sure weather or not to drop.. It finally did, but didn't last long before it evaporated back into the supercell. But it was definitely a twister, perhaps the first of many that night. To avoid approaching hail, which Coach could see on radar and which sometimes is as big as softballs, we high-tailed it back to the main roads, then followed the temperamental supercell as it traveled south. It was already 8:15 p.m. and getting dark, but tornado warnings kept popping up on our phones, so we stayed vigilant. Cellphone radar app indicates a tornado on the ground near Santo, Texas, May 18, 2025. After about 15 minutes on I-20, Coach's wife and kids started yelling, 'Tornado,, tornado!' I couldn't see anything, being on the right side in the front passenger's seat, nor could Coach, who was driving. He immediately found a safe spot on the side of the 70-mph highway, and pulled over. Sure enough, about four miles above a ridge behind us, a stovepipe tornado was raging. It was a big one, too, at least an EF-2, and all hell broke loose in the car. The kids were screaming, and so were Coach and I. We got out and started snapping away. He had finally seen a photogenic tornado - and so had his kids - and it was a damn impressive one. Tornado visible from highway I-20, May 18, 2025. Coach was in disbelief. 'I couldn't process what was actually happening at the time,' he told me this week in an interview. 'But I have the photos and keep looking at them. My kids told everyone at school, too. They were as excited as I was.' Now that Coach has finally seen his tornado, will he keep chasing? 'You bet,' he says. 'It's addicting. But you never forget your first one.'
Forbes
11-05-2025
- Automotive
- Forbes
Texas Ride-Alongs Bring Back Nostalgic Thrills Of Years Gone By
NASCAR Racing Experience setting up for business at Texas Motor Speedway, May 10, 2025. Tim Bovasso It was 22 years back that I had run laps at Texas Motor Speedway. I was younger then, and had set up a test to clock an average lap in an Indy car at over 200 mph, a pretty daunting task for a journalist who is not a pro race-car driver. Put into perspective, the average speed the real-deal IndyCar drivers turn laps is around 220 mph. To achieve my 200-mph dream, which was hatched in 1977 when Tom Sneva first broke the 200-mph barrier at Indy, I would need to run a lap in under 27 seconds on the 1.5-mile-long Texas oval. With the help of race team owner Sam Schmidt and NASCAR Racing Experience (NRE) founder and CEO Bob Lutz, I raised $25,000 for two charities - the Sam Schmidt Paralysis Foundation and Racing For Kids - to stage the test. As preparation, I ran more than 100 lead-follow laps in Lutz's Indy cars at Texas. Forbes writer Jim Clash prepares for a 200-mph test at Texas Motor Speedway, October 16, 2002. Steve McNeely When the big day arrived, I was given 10 laps to hit the 200 mph average in a Sam Schmidt Indy car that had competed in the big Texas Indy race the previous day. Sure enough, on the 10th lap, I hit 201.2 mph (see video). I had achieved my dream, and two charities were $25,000 richer. Win-win, but a real nail-biter. Fast forward to this past weekend where I returned to the speedway for the first time since 2002, except now I was not in an Indy car, but a slower (albeit safer) stock car. And I wasn't running laps by myself. I was giving rides to NRE customers. That meant that I had someone else's well-being in my hands. I was a bit nervous beforehand. The track had been reconfigured in 2017, lowering the banking in Turn 1 and 2 to 20 degrees versus 24 degrees in the past. That meant I would have to back off somewhat going into Turn 1. Turns 3 and 4 were still 24 degrees. Tornado chaser Tim Bovasso (left) and cave explorer Bill Steele, Texas Motor Speedway, May 10, 2025. Jim Clash Mostly I give rides at Daytona International Speedway, a longer oval at 2.5 miles. So I wasn't used to driving at a shorter, tighter track. But there would be some muscle memory from 2002, I was thinking. Some of the Daytona support crew were at Texas as well, so that gave me an additional layer of comfort. My first laps were eye-opening. While the speeds are slightly lower at Texas than at Daytona, I found that things come at you much more rapidly, and the G-forces in the car are higher due to a tighter turning radius. You have to focus 100 percent of the time running on a 1.5-mile track. But once I settled in and began giving rides to NRE customers, I felt right at home. Two friends came over in the morning - cave-diver Bill Steele and tornado hunter Tim Bovasso. They had a blast on their rides. Later on, it was packed. Between three drivers, myself one of them, we gave in excess of 170 rides due to a number of unscheduled walk-ups. It wasn't 200 mph - more like 160 - but it felt good to be giving out bucket-list experiences. There were folks there from countries including Australia, Puerto Rico, France and England who had come to Texas just for a ride. After having been in the car from 8:30 am to 4:30 p.m., I was exhausted. Later, though, I thought about my 200-mph run in 2002 and realized how special it was. I was running laps in the high 30-second range in the stock car, whereas it was a blistering 26 seconds in the Indy car. Huge difference. Dinner at a Roanoke, Texas, barbecue restaurant after a busy day at the racetrack. (L-R) Texas Motor Speedway track operations manager Todd Bell, ride-driver Marc Ludwick and spotter Wade Messina. Jim Clash That said, I would never attempt that 2002 test again. Crazy fast and exceedingly dangerous. But what did I know back then? I was fearless in my youth, as I'm sure is the case with many folks.
Forbes
30-04-2025
- Climate
- Forbes
Tim Bovasso: It's Not Wind In A Tornado That Kills You, It's Debris
Storm chaser Tim Bovasso in a west Texas field, April 25, 2025. Jim Clash Really good storm chasers are few and far between. With the recent boom in tornado hunting, a number of newcomers have hung up shingles to take regular folks out to America's midwest and south during the peak season - April through mid-June - to encounter storms like the ones they've seen in the popular "Twister" flicks. So, like I warned in my last two stories (links below), do your diligence before choosing a tour company. A great chaser in Dallas, Texas, is Tim Bovasso. The 30-year-old has seen more than 100 tornadoes in his 14 years of hunting. Last week, I was lucky enough to chase with him and his friend, Jeff Anderson. Both are crack meteorologists. It's uncanny how they find just where a tornado will form at a certain time of day and in a narrow area. It was some luck, but mostly skill, that led us to three epic tornadoes on April 24. Following are edited excerpts from a longer conversation with Bovasso, where he discusses his first tornado, how to deal with congestion caused by all of the new storm chasers, safety issues with highway overpasses, and more. Jim Clash: Talk about the first time you saw a tornado. Tim Bovasso: Back in 2008 in east-central Florida on a really late hot spring day, thunderstorms started firing. I was a kid at the time and didn't have a driver's license, so I got a neighbor to take me out to Lake Washington to watch. The storm produced a beautiful cone funnel tornado. I still have a photo I took from four or five miles out. Clash: How did that make you feel? Bovasso: I'm pretty sure I cried. Ever since I was a young child I've had an infatuation with severe weather. The crying wasn't for fear or sadness, just happiness and excitement to see such a wonder of nature. Clash: Well, since 2008, storm chasing has really changed, become all the rage. Why? Bovasso: It's a combination of factors. We have an ever-growing population, so there's just more people. And technology has improved dramatically in a way that makes it easier to chase. You don't need an extensive background in conceptual or mathematical meteorology. You can download a $10 weather app, watch the radar and make general assumptions about where a storm may produce a tornado. These people will never be as successful as someone who has that meteorological background, but they can still do it. Ten years ago, I'd have a laptop mounted on the passenger side of my car to pull data I needed because a phone wasn't powerful enough. I'd have other tools like an an anemometer, as well. Today, all you need is a little box in your hand. Extreme weather apps on cell phones are widely available now. Jim Clash Clash: With the exponential growth in storm chasing, there must be problems with congestion given the relative ease you mention. Bovasso: Yes, mostly from individual behavior, especially on weekends when a lot of people are available. Many of the newer chasers don't think about a critical spot to set up safely. They don't look at it that way. They say, "Anywhere on a public road where I can start taking photos is okay." No. If you're in the middle of a road where vehicles are speeding by at 70 mph, it's dangerous. You can be blocking traffic, increasing the likelihood that somebody else swerves out around you and gets killed because of where you're parked. Some of the newbies will pull over, but then leave their doors open, another accident waiting to happen. The backroads out here are not necessarily built to handle all of that traffic, anyway. Those stuck behind you can end up caught in a long line in a tornado zone where it's not just hail but the tornado itself.. Clash: Some folks think it's safe to hide under a highway overpass if a tornado is coming. True? Bovasso: What kills you in a tornado is not usually the wind, but debris. If you can get lower than ground level say, in a ditch or culvert, there's a chance that the debris will fly over you. It would depend on the orientation of a tornado, but when you compress a lot of wind into a confined area like under an overpass, it will accelerate as will any debris it's carrying. So no, it's not a good idea to hide under an overpass to avoid a tornado. Large stovepipe tornado near Matador, Texas, April 24, 2025. Tim Bovasso Clash: If I'm watching a tornado from a distance, and it doesn't appear to be moving, am I relatively safe? Bovasso: For the most part, if a tornado is not moving right or left, and it's gradually getting larger, the funnel is coming toward you. Movement right or left means its motion is perpendicular to you, so you're relatively safer. But sometimes tornadoes take unexpected sharp turns. So you have to keep an eye on them all of the time no matter where you are. Situational awareness is key.
Forbes
27-04-2025
- Climate
- Forbes
A Day Tornado Chasers Will Never Forget - And Neither Will I!
Photogenic anticyclonic cone tornado near Silverton, Texas, April 24, 2025. Tim Bovasso It's one thing to see a photo of a tornado, yet another to encounter one up close. I grew up in the northeastern part of the U.S. It's rare for twisters to touch down there. The big worry for northerners is hurricanes, the remnants of which often travel up the coast from the south. These remnants can, and do, do damage, even as far up as New York, and I can only imagine what folks in Florida must deal with on a regular basis. Perhaps it's that absence of tornadoes that first fueled my interest in them. I'm also an extreme nature buff, having traveled to Nazare, Portugal, to experience 60-foot waves on a jet ski, helicoptered over the active Hawaiian volcano Kilauea to see molten lava, cross-country skied to the geographic South Pole, and more. So when I discovered that organized storm groups in the southern and midwestern states chase tornadoes, I was intrigued. In 2023, I joined Raychel Sanner of Tornado Titans for a tour. Over three days in mid-June, we hunted for the elusive beasts in Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Colorado. While we saw a number of stunning motherships and super cells, the structures that produce twisters, we never saw the real thing. At the time, I made a mental note to return to try and seal the deal. Last week, I flew to Dallas, Texas, to join up with Tim Bovasso and Jeff Anderson, veteran storm chasers, to give it another go. First, Anderson took me up near Joplin, Missouri, on a promising day, and we managed to see two rain-wrapped tornadoes, the second of which was fairly weak but trapped us in it (yikes). Both were interesting experiences (story below), but still nothing photogenic had presented itself. Rain-wrapped storms tend to hide their funnels. My main goal, of course, was to see and photograph a classic tornado, one you might see in the popular 'Twister' movies. The forecast for the following few days looked decent again, but this time for West Texas. So early on the morning of April 24, we made our way from Dallas to Silverton. During the six-hour drive, I had a chance to chat with Bovasso. I learned a lot, most of which I will put in a separate interview story. But what stood out most is Bovasso's cautioning on how rare it is to see a tornado period, especially a photogenic one, so not to get my hopes up too high. A large stovepipe tornado under a massive super cell near Matador, Texas, April 24, 2025. Tim Bovasso We positioned ourselves near a developing wall cloud at the bottom of a super cell. That's the dark area most likely to produce a twister. Then it was a waiting game, frustrating at times. Bovasso and Anderson kept getting excited, then shaking their heads in despair, as they watched the wall cloud and the weather apps on their cell phones. It really was hurry up and wait. After about an hour, the decision was made to reposition ourselves southeast of the super cell to continue to have the best views. As we packed up our cameras and headed south on Highway 207, Bovasso glanced back in the scant hope that our abandoned cell would produce a tornado. And, surprisingly it began to! Anderson immediately turned the car around, and, as we headed back north, a tiny dark nub at the back of our wall cloud began to drop slowly. 'Tornado, tornado,' Bovasso yelled out. As the vortex snaked further toward the ground, I couldn't believe what was unfolding. There was no sound, no rain, and no hail as was with the rain-wrapped tornadoes we had witnessed a few days earlier, just a regal white cone forming majestically against the sky. We finally stopped the car and got out, furiously snapping photos. As quickly as it had appeared, the funnel weakened and evaporated into a thinning rope, then disappeared altogether. Poof. The whole life of the thing was about six minutes. But what a six minutes! The experience reminded me of my encounters with the elusive Northern Lights in Iceland and Alaska. Here one minute, gone the next. We chased the super cell southeast and continue to watch it, from farther away this time. And, just as with the first twister, a small nub started dropping and circulating from the wall cloud, but was shaped more like a stout stovepipe. Bovasso said that, while not as pretty as our first tornado, it was more powerful, probably classified as 'strong' by the weather services. A massive and rare wedge tornado near Matador, Texas, April 24, 2025. Jim Clash As we watched it grow, it quickly spread out at its base, eventually morphing into a massive wedge tornado, estimated at over a quarter-mile in width. (A wedge tornado is wider than it is tall.) The structure is rare and serious, Bovasso said. We tracked it until it became rain-wrapped. After that, we photographed some spectacular lightning, but really were downright giddy. We had seen three photogenic twisters in one day - a anticyclonic laminar cone, a stovepipe and a wedge. Even Bovasso, who has witnessed more than 100 tornadoes, was ecstatic, saying the day had been one of the best in his decades of chasing. If anybody wants to see Mother Nature in its most raw but beautiful form, find a storm chasing group. There are plenty online. Some charge money, others, like Bovasso, do it for passion and to see the looks on folks' faces when they experience a tornado for the first time. But do your diligence first. The right guide can keep you safe, but also suss-out the best areas to find tornadoes. High season is April through mid-June.
