There are essentially two vehicles which can safely penetrate a tornado’s violent ground funnel: the Dominator, owned and operated by the well-known storm chaser Reed Timmer, and the TIV-2, owned and operated by Ryan Shepard at Storm Of Passion.
To protect its chase crew from hail stones, some as large as a grapefruits, and debris spun at upwards of 150 mph by internal winds, Shepard’s TIV (tornado intercept vehicle) features bulletproof windshields and special steel armored plates.
To keep the vehicle from being launched into space, or flipped and rolled, four heavy metal anchor spikes, one at each corner of the vehicle, can be deployed to dig several inches into the ground.
As part of my coverage of storm chasing, Shepard agreed to let me tag along with his folks this week in search of twisters in Tornado Alley. Storm Of Passion’s headquarters in Kansas is a key area within the Alley, so staff can easily relocate the vehicle to places where supercells, the huge cloud structures that spawn tornadoes, are developing. The key chase months are April, May and June, with the most concentrated historically this third week of May.
The TIV-2 is street legal, weighs 14,000 pounds and, with a turbocharged engine of some 600 hp, can reach speeds approaching 90 mph, necessary sometimes to stay ahead of a storm. Basically, the vehicle is a beast on wheels, and, as you can imagine, its unusual appearance garners attention everywhere it goes.
Before meeting up with Shepard, I had already hunted with some well-known chasers including Raychel Sanner (Tornado Titans), Tim Bovasso, Jeff Anderson and Chris Coach, and was lucky enough to have encountered some impressive tornadoes.
These included a rare anticyclonic cone near Silverton, Texas, and a large stovepipe funnel and ensuing wedge tornado near Matador, Texas (April 24); a weak EF-0 rain-wrapped affair near Joplin, Missouri (April 20); and multiple strong vortices just outside of Dallas (May 18).
So when it came time to hang with Shepard, I had already checked off that bucket-list item – seeing a tornado, not an easy thing to do – albeit from the safe distance of a few miles. The plan with TIV was to get much closer, say within a hundred yards, maybe even enter the vortex.
Photojournalist Mike Killian and I met Shepard and his crew near Blackwell, Oklahoma, on May 19, predicted by most weather sources to be the biggest storm-potential day of the year. I was excited. Hundreds of chasers went out, including us in the TIV.
Although it was a fascinating learning experience for me to buckle in to the TIV and barrel into an impressive supercell, complete with hail stones, we found no twisters that hyped-up day. Most other chasers were disappointed, as well. In fact, it turned out to be one of the biggest bust days of 2025.
Oh well. Now that the front has moved east, it’s a waiting game for us. Another big front is expected later this week coming east from the Rocky Mountains, and that should stir up some interesting weather. Meantime, Killian and I are holed-up at a Baymont hotel in Blackwell.
When we do catch one, and I’m confident we will, I’m hoping to get close enough to hear the freight-train roar from just outside of the funnel, or maybe even from inside of it. That is something I haven’t experienced yet. As is always the case with tornadoes, though, it’s fingers crossed. Bring it on, Mother Nature!