The Making of Tornado Chasers: Behind The Scenes Of The Groundbreaking Documentary Series

by Ken Cole, Reed Timmer (Foreword)

In The Making of Tornado Chasers, filmmaker Ken Cole gives you a rare, behind-the-scenes look at the treacherous production of the documentary series Tornado Chasers, which follows Reed Timmer's chase team during the historic 2013 tornado season. Including behind-the-scenes anecdotes and first-hand accounts of the tragic events in Moore and El Reno, Oklahoma, Cole tells his personal story through a series of logs covering pre-production through the series premiere.Ken Cole (author) is an award-winning filmmaker and seasoned storm chaser. Throughout his career Ken has documented over fifty tornadoes, often from close range. His projects have featured renowned weather personalities including Reed Timmer, Jim Cantore, and Ginger Zee. Ken studied meteorology at the University of Oklahoma, and later pursued documentary filmmaking as part of his graduate work. In 2006 he directed the PBS documentary Tornado Glory, his first work featuring Reed Timmer and Joel Taylor. Ken then contributed to the Discovery Channel's Storm Chasers series, and went on to direct the award-winning short film “Heaven’s Rage." Most recently, Ken served as executive producer for Tornado Chasers - a groundbreaking documentary series and two-time Webby Award Honoree.Reed Timmer (foreword) is well-known as the most successful and extreme storm chaser in the world, having intercepted over 500 tornadoes and a dozen powerful hurricanes during the last decade. Reed starred on Discovery Channel's Storm Chasers, and is now featured in the documentary series Tornado Chasers. Reed has constructed three armored vehicles, called "The Dominator" fleet, to withstand the powerful forces of a tornado. He also the author of Into The Storm, covering his early career in storm chasing.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography

50 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 20, 2014

Reviews

[Madison · Rating 4 out of 5]

The short tribute said so much and meant so much at the same time

[Sandra Burns · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fast read, great pics.

For anyone interested in tornadoes, this quick book is for you. I have only watched the series a time or two. Hope to catch it next time. Gives brief chapters summing up chasing. The good, the bad and the ugly. Fascinating!

[Justin Turczak · Rating 5 out of 5]

A better look of the year after the final episode of storm chasers on discovery. To tvn's made production similar to storm chasers on discovery with many of production staff from the show to make this. For what it's worth I enjoyed it since it's different perspective of what's going on than for reed timmer and how the shows ran and functioned. Plus hear about the rest of the chase crew I grew up on hearing thru tornado videos website of like dick and mike scantin. I'm hoping to one day watch the show for this book just never did get a chance to it.

[Jamie Hughes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anyone who knows me, knows I am a storm chasing, wall cloud searching, tornado loving NERD. Tim Samaras is one of my all time favorite people to search out info on and so I’ve watched (multiple times) every episode of Storm Chasers and Tornado Chasers…and about every other documentary or book made/written that involves the science.
This is a quick read but it offers a different perspective of the 2013 storm season we saw on TV and in the behind the scenes footage. Great way to start 2024. (Just looked back and I kicked off 2023 with a similar read 🤣)

[Kathryn Richardson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting behind q the scenes glimpse of tornado chasing

However, it also reads like a brochure inclusion for the kick starter that backed the production. Good material and worth the read if you're into tornados or live where those monsters hit. Touches on the tragic loss of chasers caught by the freak maneuver of a killer twister. The people lost were not thrill seekers; they were experienced weather people doing serious research to improve tornado knowledge.

[Lenora E. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thunderous Excitement!

I am an avid watcher and fan of the series. This book brought it to life for me. Absolutely loved the inserted links incorporated in each chapter. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has ever been interested in how nature does its thing, and how we should appreciate and respect it.

[lily · Rating 5 out of 5]

A storm team who goes hunting for big tornadoes.

If you like tornadoes or learning about tornadoes I would definitely recommend this book to because because you will get to learn so much just like I did about my favorite show and the making of it.

[Patti · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve followed Reed Timmer for years and enjoyed this little book on the 2013 season of Tornado Chasers.

[Renee' LaViness · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed the read.

Great perspective, easy read. It was nice that I could load and watch most of the videos that were linked inside the text.

[Kristi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really Enjoyed!

If you are a fan of Tornado Chasers you will enjoy this book! It is a great addition to the show.

[Suzze Tiernan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Always love watching storm chasers, especially Reed Timmer.

[Christy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read this twice now. I chose this book because TV series' such as "Tornado Alley" & "Storm Chasers" fascinate me. I try to watch almost any TV program regarding storms, tornadoes, and other natural disasters. This may seem odd, but having an M.Ed in Mental Health has made me more observant and analytical. In some ways, the weather is like human behaviour - it is always changing, unpredictable... sometimes intriguing; sometimes frightening.

This book is a very brief, but fascinating read. It is more like a set of journal entries written over the course of time as professionals such as Jim Cantore, Mike Bettes, and others chased storms and tornadoes. In this brief read, you will read about death and destruction - including the deaths of three professional storm chasers, as well as the close encounter with death Mike and his team faced. This is actually very interesting - not that I enjoy read about death and destruction -- I do not. However, within these few pages, we read about how the show comes together and get to read missing pieces that were not included in the series. If weather patterns fascinate you, this is the book for you! I want more!! Books that is, no more tornadoes, which sadly, we know will occur somewhere.

[Roxann · Rating 4 out of 5]

The 'book' is written as a diary. Ken Cole shares his writings about each of the videos that was produced during the 2013 chase season. If you are interested in the weather and how a production team video tapes storms this is a short book to read. It also gets into some interesting tidbits about the different tornadoes and how it may have affected members of the team.

[Joey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really made me want to look up the show as soon as I can afford Netflix again

[Judy Briles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tornado Chasers

I actually followed this tv series and this book gives true insight of what and how much went on behind the scene.

[Vance mcdonnell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great

Very good story I loved how explanatory it was and how good it was to read I also love weather

[Bettye McKee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not what I was expecting or looking for.

[Traci Strouse · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay

It could have been better. They could have been more information about tornadoes in it . Other than that it will it was okay book.

[ELY M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

very good book about making of the tornado chasers. I got it for free from Reed Timmer as I remembered.