NOVA Tornado! Original Broadcast, 1985

NOVA Tornado! aired nationwide on all PBS affiliates in November 1985. This comprehensive public documentary on storm chasing and scientific severe weather research followed University of Oklahoma graduate students and researchers with the National Severe Storms Laboratory in Norman, Oklahoma in their attempts to deploy TOTO (short for TOtable Tornado Observatory) in the path of a tornado to collect in situ data.
The original research Doppler/NEXRAD radar at the National Severe Storms Laboratory is also prominently featured. This was prior to the launch of the WSR-88D Doppler Radar and modernization of the National Weather Service in the 1990's.
Survivor stories from a devastating F5 tornado at Barneveld, Wisconsin on June 8, 1984 was also paired into the documentary. The production was produced between May and June 1985, just after the first and only successful deployment of TOTO, of which is not featured. Instead a demo deployment from June 2, 1985 was inserted at the end of the program from dramatic effect.
Video © 1985 WGBH, PBS NOVA.

[@Docholliday1106]

This is THE video that's responsible for my obsession with tornadoes.

[@scottmerrill2416]

Remember this like it was yesterday. Growing up in a rural area with no cable or satellite tv, NOVA was a Godsend.

[@douglasgriffiths3534]

I taped this show when it originally aired in Nov. 1985. I was recovering from a broken foot, so couldn't do too much. Still have the VHS tape, and also a DVD copy. Excellent doc, and Howie Bluestein sure looks different today. (Jan Griffiths).

[@tybeauvais-tt6wp]

@douglasgriffiths3534 where did you find the DVD

[@douglasgriffiths3534]

@@tybeauvais-tt6wp I have a friend who can transfer VHS to DVD. That's how I got it. (Jan Griffiths).

[@seanevertts2735]

All tornadoes say "fuck you". Theo Von

[@leehuff2330]

It would be just under 3 weeks until the outbreak of May 31, 1985 along the Ohio- Pennsylvania line just north of my hometown. I actually rode one of the storms out in a camper. It went on to drop an F-2 that destroyed a shopping center near Beaver Falls, PA. That night also saw the only F-5 ever recorded in Pennsylvania, tracking from near Ravenna, OH to Wheatland, PA.

[@AncientAirTheatre]

Production for this documentary was ongoing when the May 31, 1985 tornado outbreak happened, hence the quick mention of it at the end. With the 1984 Barneveld, Wisconsin F5 tornado and the TOTO deployment attempts still a thing, the producers had more than enough material to work with for this show.

[@garymackey850]

A different world back then....pulling over to use a payphone....//

[@danlc95]

Around 33:18, I was aroumd the age of those kids in the school. May of 85 would have been second grade, and I was 8. I lived in Rochester Hills, MI. The school was in neighboring Auburn Heights (now Auburn Hills), and we used to have strong storms more often back then. I remember a bad on a year later, not long after the Chernobyl plant exploded in Ukraine. That one we had to go to the school's basement. A year after that, on the last or one of the last days of school - there were isolated storms and so many of them came with warnings. It was a surreal day.

[@alonzowilliams6939]

The music is great for the show

[@essmhtvny165es]

November 19, 1985

[@LesDexia13]

Their low-tech tools really show how impactful smart phones have become.

[@Jwend392]

You think Reed Timmer would have the stones to chase like these folks did back in the day? No GPS, no computers, just paper road maps to navigate with?

[@ProfessorIgor]

Absolutely. He's a "dirt sniffer"... He's passionate, no, he's OBSESSED with tornado research.

[@danlc95]

Yep, I believe he would. That guy is NUTS!

[@michaelross1452]

Reed Timmer has been chasing since BEFORE all that.....

[@delilaperez82]

Reed Timmer could do it

[@Turk_2023]

Reed has been doing it since 1999, maybe longer. He chased the May 3rd Moore tornado in 99, no GPS.

[@tammysims8716]

I wish I was still living in the 80s

[@djamo1969]

Still? So do you mean the 2080s?

[@danlc95]

​@djamo1969 - So they're from the future in that case?

[@Wolf_Ghost]

Thank god gym shorts became longer.

[@tybeauvais-tt6wp]

Lmao Veteran storm chaser Howard Bluestein snd he looks younger than me in this video.

[@JohnShields-xx1yk]

Mother nature rules.

[@inbetweenmeetings]

5:34 who knew “Dorothy” from “Twister” was actually real 😳

[@douglasgriffiths3534]

TOTO inspired Dorothy and DOT 3 for the 1996 "Twister" movie. Yep, TOTO was real. (Jan Griffiths).

[@73hhK41]

Does anyone know if the shirt boss man is wearing at 13:11 can still be bought today? Also wondering what else it says.

[@AncientAirTheatre]

The 1983/84 OU meteorology program t-shirt "If You Don't Like The Weather... Wait Five Minutes" came in a variety of colors and like many others that followed, were limited to that specific graduating class. Students in the program and later the OU SCAMS (Student Chapter of the American Meteorological Society) typically designed them. If you're in/around Norman/OKC, check out some area thrift shops.