Reed Timmer has dedicated over 20 years to chasing storms, starting with his first tornado interception in Oklahoma while studying meteorology as a college student. With an annual mileage of over 50,000 miles on the road, Timmer has encountered numerous tornadoes, each adding to his expertise in extreme weather. “We still have a lot to learn about the inner workings of a tornado,” says Edgar O’Neal, a weather journalist and Timmer’s chase partner.
Introducing the Dominator, the third version of Timmer’s specially designed storm-chasing vehicle first launched in the late 2000s. This current Dominator, built on an F350 chassis and weighing in at 10,000 pounds, is designed to withstand the intense debris, massive hail, and 150-mph winds of the most severe storms. Timmer’s ultimate goal is to drive the Dominator within a quarter-mile of a tornado and launch a rocket loaded with sensors directly into the tornado’s core. Timmer successfully achieved this once in May 2019, where the rocket tracked the pressure drop and icy temperatures inside the vortex. In the upcoming year, his team plans to launch numerous rockets simultaneously into the swirling updraft of a tornado’s “inflow notch.” Even if these rockets fail, the Dominator is equipped with its own array of sensors to gather valuable scientific data. “The objective is to either launch probes into a tornado or become the probe, and that’s what the Dominator does,” explains O’Neal.