Last time, veteran storm chaser Tim Bovasso covered the exponential rise in the storm-chasing community population and what that means for severe weather prediction, where and where not to be during a tornado warning, his first tornado experience and more.
Here, in Part 2 of our interview, Bovasso turns to the controversial subject of staff cuts at weather-predicting institutions, and tells us what his favorite tornado experience was. Following are edited excerpts from a longer conversation.
Jim Clash: Has the recent reduction in staff at NOAA impacted your ability to chase and predict storms?
Tim Bovasso: The biggest fear I have is the impact on families and kids and people having nothing to do with severe weather just trying to live their lives day to day – going to work, to school. They will have fewer warnings and therefore won’t know when to take shelter for safety. The impacts will be extreme.
My friend Jeff [Anderson] and I chased an incredible supercell [structure that produces a tornado] one night in Oklahoma, and watched an EF-3 tornado move across Comamche Lake. It was unwarned for the longest time just because of the lack of resources the National Weather Service has to get its job done!
The NWS has been a bastion of scientific knowledge for atmospheric sciences since its inception over 150 years ago. The NWS and NOAA have aggregated the largest amount of meteorological and atmospheric data on the planet, more than any other nation. Weather affects us all. You can’t completely run or hide from it. Being able to be warned is so critical, especially in a first-world country that looks to maintain its status.
The NWS doesn’t even have resources to properly launch weather balloons now. Those balloons give us a broad view of where tornadoes may be later today, and how severe they may be. A lot of their data is plugged into models, the same ones we use to chase storms.
Another issue is radar. One of the most critical tools to forecast severe weather in-the-moment is Doppler radar. The equipment there is not new technology. It’s been around for a while. The country has invested millions of dollars erecting them. Radar, of course, needs care and servicing. There are tech people hired specifically to keep them running.
A lot of these people were just fired or laid off. It’s already led to severe weather outbreaks with no radar coverage because equipment is down. Politics aside, you are seeing the dismantling of scientific systems that have helped keep America safe for more than a century. That’s scary, and a lot of people could die.
Clash: Let’s switch tracks. As a chaser, you’ve seen more than 100 tornadoes. Which experience was your favorite, if you have one?
Bovasso: I’ve seen a lot of tornadoes that are almost my favorite [laughs]. But my absolute favorite was near Silverton [Texas] last year. The night before, I had chased eastern Colorado with my friend, Celton Henderson, who has a popular YouTube channel. I had a choice to head to Nebraska or stay in eastern Colorado. I didn’t have the means to chase in Nebraska, but was getting ready to head there anyway.
That night, though, I looked at some mesoscale forecasting and saw promising signals for Silverton. I made a forecasting decision to abandon eastern Colorado and Nebraska, and drive all night to the panhandle of Texas. In the morning, I came across the first updraft tower bubbling on the horizon. That was my storm. The reason Silverton is my favorite is not just because of great forecasting work, but the storm was insanely beautiful. In fact, it produced the largest hailstone ever recorded in Texas – like 7.8 inches.
As the supercell approached Silverton, it produced an incredible perfect cone tornado right underneath its beautiful mothership. The tornado lasted for about 20 minutes. Just as it was lifting, it produced two more cone tornadoes next to it – perfect twins. These lasted for 25-30 minutes. They eventually morphed into a large stovepipe tornado, and it didn’t move from its spot the entire rime.
I just sat there with a smile on my face, didn’t have to reposition. It was a pretty strong storm, but it didn’t hit anything, so the rating wasn’t high on the EF scale. But imagine five photogenic tornadoes in one night?