A Trip Into Tornado Alley With America’s Most Obsessive Storm ChaserOn a clear morning in late May, Reed Timmer began the day at home in Lexington, Okla., studying the latest update from the National Weather Service’s storm-prediction center. A month into his freshman year, he went storm chasing, and saw his first tornado. He went on to begin his Ph.D. studies, but the allure of storm chasing waylaid his academic career. Timmer insists that chasing tornadoes is safe, though others’ experience suggests a different conclusion. In 2013, while he was pursuing the El Reno tornado in Oklahoma, four other chasers died in the storm.

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Persons: Reed Timmer, Timmer, Edgar ONeal, It’s, ” Timmer, ”, Bill Paxton, Helen Hunt, Mark L, Smith, Timmer —, Gizmo —, Glen Powell, “, Reed, ” Smith, ” “ Reed, Bill Gallus, Kan Organizations: University of Oklahoma, “, Chevy Tahoe, Hollywood, Universal Pictures, Warner Brothers, Iowa State University, El, National Weather Service, Subaru Forester, Subaru Locations: Lexington, Okla, Kansas, Texas, America, Chickasaw, Wichita Falls, Windthorst, Oklahoma City, Yorkshire, Timmer, Lawrence, El Reno, Oklahoma, United States, Greenfield , Iowa