In May, veteran storm chaser Tim Samaras — along with longtime colleague Carl Young and son Paul Samaras — was killed by a twister that tore through Oklahoma, killing 22 people.
Known for his appearances on the Discovery Channel’s Storm Chasers, the 55-year-old self-taught engineer traveled about 35,000 miles each summer, tracking tornados. He designed and built innovative probes that he placed on the ground just before tornados barreled through — often at grave personal peril — to measure storm conditions. Samaras’ work detailing the thermodynamic mechanisms that transform a thunderstorm into a tornado contributed to increased warning times ahead of tornadoes. Using a 1,600-pound Cold War-era camera (originally used to film nuclear tests) retrofitted with digital sensors and special software, Samaras strove to capture the dazzling moment a lightning strike is born, hoping these high-resolution photographs would provide insights into how lightning forms and why lightning bolts often follow ...
