Reed Timmers new Dominator 3

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Love him or hate him, Reed has probably seen more tornadoes than anyone alive. I think he's into the science of storm/tornadoes but he also has to keep the hype up to keep the $ rolling in so that he can chase almost every day of the year. He was doing some cool stuff with ChasinSpin there for a while. No idea if they collected any useful data, but they created some cool hardware to collect all sorts of data.
 
Reed actually got a close-range intercept last night! Heavily rain-wrapped tornado by Linneus, MO. It was one of the most epic chase videos I've seen in a while. :D

For the uninitiated, Dominator 3 is a 2013 Ford F-350 Super Duty that was first introduced in the 2013 storm chasing season. It saw its first four intercepts on the EF4 Shawnee, OK tornado on May 19th. It has up to now spent most of its time chasing in Canada for the group known as Prairie Storm Chasers. Really excited to see this beast back.
 
Kevin H ll said:
Reed actually got a close-range intercept last night! Heavily rain-wrapped tornado by Linneus, MO. It was one of the most epic chase videos I've seen in a while. :D

For the uninitiated, Dominator 3 is a 2013 Ford F-350 Super Duty that was first introduced in the 2013 storm chasing season. It saw its first four intercepts on the EF4 Shawnee, OK tornado on May 19th. It has up to now spent most of its time chasing in Canada for the group known as Prairie Storm Chasers. Really excited to see this beast back.
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How exciting! I'll be looking for the ground breaking research soon! I'm sure all the money raised on YouTube will be a major contribution to the advancement of severe weather meteorology.
 
Warren Faidley said:
How exciting! I'll be looking for the ground breaking research soon! I'm sure all the money raised on YouTube will be a major contribution to the advancement of severe weather meteorology.
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And Reed pulls off the stupid stunt of deploying in the road and having to sit there for 10-15 minutes before he can move. He said the air bags had to air up before he could un-deploy. He also deployed the spikes onto the roadway. He's just begging to get into an accident. I saw several cars having to go around him in blinding rain.
 
Someone needs to remind him, maybe a NASCAR or F1 engineer, that ground effects only work if the car remains fixed to a flat surface. Another vehicle, telephone pole or flying cow would disrupt the flow and it's game over. I also noticed the passenger side does not appear to have an airbag? Or passenger shoulder harnesses? As I've said here and in other forums, he is the luckiest individual I have ever known in my entire life, considering what some consider as stunts and risk taking. Unfortunately, luck eventually runs out. If he's blocking innocent driver's escape routes or blocking EMS, I'll use a PIT maneuver to put him in the wall. 😘 😂
 
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So, from what I've gathered from the time I've joined to now, I'm guessing you guys aren't big believers in tornado intercept vehicles?

I do admit though that deploying in the middle of the road was a bit of an L move on Reed's part. Yeah, there was no one else there - at least from what I saw after watching the video twice - but as my parents always say, never assume you're the only one on the road, even in the dead of night (or in the middle of a tornado in this case). That's how people get killed.
 
Kevin H ll said:
Reed actually got a close-range intercept last night! Heavily rain-wrapped tornado by Linneus, MO. It was one of the most epic chase videos I've seen in a while. :D
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Some damage was done by those storms:
weather.com

Watch: Church Hit By Tornado - Videos from The Weather Channel

A severe thunderstorm spawned multiple tornadoes in northern Missouri damaging multiple structures including a church. - Videos from The Weather Channel | weather.com
weather.com weather.com

We are in an era where the most compelling video comes from everyone *but* chasers.

I think drone footage has the best chance to be used for educational purposes:

I might run a cable to a balloon chain with smoke bombs and film how that Mogul like balloon chain gets entrained into the tornado circulation.

A single drone would be trashed—-but remember the lines suspended top to bottom in Pampa? They seemed quite stable compared to the tumbling bits.

Have the dominator deploy a balloon chain like that and he might actually get some good observations of meaning. A drone would be every 20 feet along the length of the chain.
 
I’m not a fan of anyone parking in the middle of the road or blowing stop signs. That said, I do like yesterday’s video and other videos like the TIV intense intercept. I’m apparently a little more focused on staying alive than everyone getting these types of videos. In the end, the odds are going to even out with this.
 
I seem to have heard lines like “mesocyclone on the ground” that might be more apropos with this newest video
 
Roger Brown said:
Love him or hate him, Reed has probably seen more tornadoes than anyone alive. I think he's into the science of storm/tornadoes but he also has to keep the hype up to keep the $ rolling in so that he can chase almost every day of the year. He was doing some cool stuff with ChasinSpin there for a while. No idea if they collected any useful data, but they created some cool hardware to collect all sorts of data.
Click to expand...

He has zero publications in any AMS journals or any AMS conferences related to severe weather. The subject of his PhD was actually climate research unrelated to severe weather. The only piece of published scientific information I can find from him are from a single-data point/profile measurement of the wind speed in the Lawrence, KS EF4 from May 2019. While a helpful data point, it is hardly never-before-seen, just unique in coming from a rocket-propelled probe. But that's it. Of all of that money he's taking in, little to none of it is find its way back to the scientific community.
 
I didn't see anything in that video that looked extreme or novel...maybe Reed's lack of scientific communication and typical screaming at wind and rain. I have yet to see anything from close to a tornado that competes with Brandon Ivey's video from inside that EF4 in TIV2 in 2013. Sean Casey got a handful of neat shots inside tornadoes, too, including Goshen County, WY on 5 June 2009.
 
Jeff Duda said:
He has zero publications in any AMS journals or any AMS conferences related to severe weather. The subject of his PhD was actually climate research unrelated to severe weather. The only piece of published scientific information I can find from him are from a single-data point/profile measurement of the wind speed in the Lawrence, KS EF4 from May 2019. While a helpful data point, it is hardly never-before-seen, just unique in coming from a rocket-propelled probe. But that's it. Of all of that money he's taking in, little to none of it is find its way back to the scientific community.
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Thanks so much for clarifying this. Not being a scientist, and trying to remain respectful, I have avoided bringing up the points you mentioned. Most people of higher education are very afraid to mention his credentials and how he applies them to his work. It has always been my opinion that he abuses "science" or uses "grey science" to promote his activities. I've never seen his vehicles filled with researchers, just people who further his YouTube publicity, like professional drone pilots. I know of many people genuinely involved in severe weather who never get a mention, like those at the SPC, NWS offices and local spotters.
 
I've never met Reed but have seen him (and his entourage) numerous times when I'm out chasing. I've seen videos of his chase partners/friends saying he's self centered/arrogant, but I have no firsthand knowledge. I don't understand some of the hate he gets for making money by chasing. From what I see, he got a degree in Meteorology, because he loves weather & storms, and he's using his knowledge to chase and make $. Even if all he does is chase, and never helps with "the science", he has a very large social media following that is now getting a heads up on storms in their area. Who says he has to publish papers or info? Why is it bad that he's doing something he loves and making $ too?

I only get to chase for 2 weeks per year, and I've done it all for myself, never helping with "the science". I take my pics/video/time-lapses and have them for my own enjoyment. Only a handful of people have ever seen anything I've captured. I rarely even post any of it on my social media accounts (a few pics over the years). Does that make me a bad person? If I could make a living traveling the country and chasing weather, I'd probably jump at the chance. I'm betting most people on this site would as well.
 
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