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The Man Who Caught the Storm: The Life of Legendary Tornado Chaser Tim Samaras
The saga of the greatest tornado chaser who ever a tale of obsession and daring and an extraordinary account of humanity’s high-stakes race to understand nature’s fiercest phenomenon from Brantley Hargrove, “one of today’s great science writers” (The Washington Post).At the turn of the twenty-first century, the tornado was one of the last true mysteries of the modern world. It was a monster that ravaged the American heartland a thousand times each year, yet science’s every effort to divine its inner workings had ended in failure. Researchers all but gave up, until the arrival of an outsider. In a field of PhDs, Tim Samaras didn’t attend a day of college in his life. He chased storms with brilliant tools of his own invention and pushed closer to the tornado than anyone else ever dared. When he achieved what meteorologists had deemed impossible, it was as if he had snatched the fire of the gods. Yet even as he transformed the field, Samaras kept on pushing. As his ambitions grew, so did the risks. And when he finally met his match—in a faceoff against the largest tornado ever recorded—it upended everything he thought he knew. Brantley Hargrove delivers a “cinematically thrilling and scientifically wonky” (Outside) tale, chronicling the life of Tim Samaras in all its triumph and tragedy. Hargrove takes readers inside the thrill of the chase, the captivating science of tornadoes, and the remarkable character of a man who walked the line between life and death in pursuit of knowledge. The Man Who Caught the Storm is an “adrenaline rush of a tornado chase…Readers from all across the spectrum will enjoy this” (Library Journal, starred review) unforgettable exploration of obsession and the extremes of the natural world.
305 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 3, 2018
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April 9, 2018
4.5 courageous stars
Scientists have become the bearers of the torch of discovery in our quest for knowledge. (Stephen Hawking)
Where would we be without the men and women who went ahead no matter the risks, and moved forward to understand our world better and the forces that swirl within it?
Tim Samaras was not your typical scientist/engineer. He received no formal education in his field, no college or advanced degrees and yet this man through his brilliance and obsession with tornadoes made strides that advanced the study of these violent storms that even today one marvels at. How to understand these storms? There was a dearth of information about these storms and Tim's fascination with them made him a foremost authority in the emerging field of how these storms operate.
It was well known that these storms brought destruction, loss of property, and to some death. Tim and his fellow storm chasers went after these storms patrolling the areas like Tornado Alley in search of the whys and wherefores. He invented and conceptualized equipment that would eventually be able to withstand being inside this storm and was able through his efforts to forward the knowledge of this, one of the last few mysteries of the modern world.
Tim chased the storms and had what some might consider to be an obsession. He followed these storms eventually losing his life as well as the life of his son and friend in one of these horrendous acts of nature.
To Tim and others like him, we owe debts of both gratitude and thanks for the knowledge he provided. Today thanks to Tim, scientists know so much more and perhaps someday the mysteries of a tornado will be mysteries no longer.
Thanks to Brantley Hargrove, the Publisher, and Edelweiss for providing this reader with an advanced copy of this book.
Scientists have become the bearers of the torch of discovery in our quest for knowledge. (Stephen Hawking)
Where would we be without the men and women who went ahead no matter the risks, and moved forward to understand our world better and the forces that swirl within it?
Tim Samaras was not your typical scientist/engineer. He received no formal education in his field, no college or advanced degrees and yet this man through his brilliance and obsession with tornadoes made strides that advanced the study of these violent storms that even today one marvels at. How to understand these storms? There was a dearth of information about these storms and Tim's fascination with them made him a foremost authority in the emerging field of how these storms operate.
It was well known that these storms brought destruction, loss of property, and to some death. Tim and his fellow storm chasers went after these storms patrolling the areas like Tornado Alley in search of the whys and wherefores. He invented and conceptualized equipment that would eventually be able to withstand being inside this storm and was able through his efforts to forward the knowledge of this, one of the last few mysteries of the modern world.
Tim chased the storms and had what some might consider to be an obsession. He followed these storms eventually losing his life as well as the life of his son and friend in one of these horrendous acts of nature.
To Tim and others like him, we owe debts of both gratitude and thanks for the knowledge he provided. Today thanks to Tim, scientists know so much more and perhaps someday the mysteries of a tornado will be mysteries no longer.
Thanks to Brantley Hargrove, the Publisher, and Edelweiss for providing this reader with an advanced copy of this book.
April 18, 2018
Highly, highly recommended. In this debut work, Brantley Hargrove captures the adrenaline-fueled chase of tornadoes, season after season, by a man whose persistence, inventive genius, and bravery led to never-before-made measurements from inside tornadoes. Caught by the quest to explain and predict these volatile, destructive monsters, Tim Samaras spent his life getting as close as he could to tornadoes from Colorado to South Dakota, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and even as far east as Alabama.
For anyone who's ever heard a tornado siren or traveled through Oklahoma in spring, these locations will be very familiar. Hargrove also gets just right the off-the-beaten-path Great Plains locations in which tornadoes develop and where chasers go to find them.
The author has done an excellent job of conveying excitement, explaining Samaras' passion, and making the science accessible.
Put this book on your must-read list even, or especially, if it means you're reading it this spring by flashlight inside a tornado shelter.
For anyone who's ever heard a tornado siren or traveled through Oklahoma in spring, these locations will be very familiar. Hargrove also gets just right the off-the-beaten-path Great Plains locations in which tornadoes develop and where chasers go to find them.
The author has done an excellent job of conveying excitement, explaining Samaras' passion, and making the science accessible.
Put this book on your must-read list even, or especially, if it means you're reading it this spring by flashlight inside a tornado shelter.
February 12, 2020
3.5 stars. An honest and painfully beautiful story of a scientist and his passion.
Fun fact about your friendly neighborhood Ellen Gail - I LOVE TORNADOES. Seems like a weird thing to love probably. I don't love the death and destruction they cause, but the sheer power and beauty of it is unrivaled in nature. Nothing would make me happier than finally getting to see one in person one day.
And like any good storm junkie, I loved Storm Chasers. And I have to admit, it makes me a little sad knowing how much Samaras hated his experience filming it and how much the production interfered with his team. But if not for Storm Chasers, I may have never found this book, or even have heard of Samaras. Books on extreme weather science and those who study it are few and far between. (I have to take a second to give a hearty recommendation to What Stands in a Storm, which is a fantastic book on the subject, and just a wonderful work of nonfiction in general.)
"Wedge tornado on the ground,” Tim says. “Oh, my God. It’s huge.”
“We gonna deploy on that thing?” asks Porter, his voice betraying more than a little trepidation.
“Damn right.”
So, there are a lot of things to like about this book. I loved the author's dedication to the subject. He got the blessing of Kathy Samaras and relied upon interviews with her, Tim's former colleagues and friends, as well as extensive footage that was filmed on chases. Everything down to the dialogue was researched and accurately portrayed.
I also loved that they didn't whitewash Samaras' life. It talks about his flaws as honestly as it does his talent.
He is brilliant but has long avoided the traditional route. He is confident and a strong leader, but he doesn’t like taking second billing. He admires pedigreed scientists, but he can be thorny and self-conscious in their presence. He works hardest when someone tells him that something can’t be done.
There are drawbacks to this book, like there are with most any. It got a bit dry sometimes. As much as I LOVE storms, some of the passages about downdrafts and cyclogenesis made my eyes glaze a bit. And much like waiting and watching to see if a tornado will form, the narrative also makes you wait to get into the adrenaline of it.
The Man Who Caught the Storm is intensely researched and well written, a sometimes slow, but altogether interesting tale of a man and his journey to know the unknown. It's definitely worth a second look if the topic peaks your interest - and why wouldn't it, tornadoes are literally the coolest!
Fun fact about your friendly neighborhood Ellen Gail - I LOVE TORNADOES. Seems like a weird thing to love probably. I don't love the death and destruction they cause, but the sheer power and beauty of it is unrivaled in nature. Nothing would make me happier than finally getting to see one in person one day.
And like any good storm junkie, I loved Storm Chasers. And I have to admit, it makes me a little sad knowing how much Samaras hated his experience filming it and how much the production interfered with his team. But if not for Storm Chasers, I may have never found this book, or even have heard of Samaras. Books on extreme weather science and those who study it are few and far between. (I have to take a second to give a hearty recommendation to What Stands in a Storm, which is a fantastic book on the subject, and just a wonderful work of nonfiction in general.)
"Wedge tornado on the ground,” Tim says. “Oh, my God. It’s huge.”
“We gonna deploy on that thing?” asks Porter, his voice betraying more than a little trepidation.
“Damn right.”
So, there are a lot of things to like about this book. I loved the author's dedication to the subject. He got the blessing of Kathy Samaras and relied upon interviews with her, Tim's former colleagues and friends, as well as extensive footage that was filmed on chases. Everything down to the dialogue was researched and accurately portrayed.
I also loved that they didn't whitewash Samaras' life. It talks about his flaws as honestly as it does his talent.
He is brilliant but has long avoided the traditional route. He is confident and a strong leader, but he doesn’t like taking second billing. He admires pedigreed scientists, but he can be thorny and self-conscious in their presence. He works hardest when someone tells him that something can’t be done.
There are drawbacks to this book, like there are with most any. It got a bit dry sometimes. As much as I LOVE storms, some of the passages about downdrafts and cyclogenesis made my eyes glaze a bit. And much like waiting and watching to see if a tornado will form, the narrative also makes you wait to get into the adrenaline of it.
The Man Who Caught the Storm is intensely researched and well written, a sometimes slow, but altogether interesting tale of a man and his journey to know the unknown. It's definitely worth a second look if the topic peaks your interest - and why wouldn't it, tornadoes are literally the coolest!
May 23, 2025
Science often bores the hell out of me. This book didn’t! The Man Who Caught the Storm by Brantley Hargrove tells the story of legendary storm chaser Tim Samaras. Samaras was a great example of American grit. He didn’t go to amazing engineering schools. He just got old equipment and tinkered endlessly from childhood to adulthood. He was one of those guys who just didn’t quit. And then, he starts chasing tornados, and it just becomes a cool adventure story.
Besides Tim, the book is helped significantly by Hargrove’s writing. First, he doesn’t “science nerd” us to death. (Read his bio, he could have.) He gives a science/math dolt like me enough to know how super cool everything is without bogging down the story. He gives enough personal details about Tim to help the reader understand him and his family but doesn’t revel in family drama.
You are left with a sleek book that would make a lot of people pretty interested.
Besides Tim, the book is helped significantly by Hargrove’s writing. First, he doesn’t “science nerd” us to death. (Read his bio, he could have.) He gives a science/math dolt like me enough to know how super cool everything is without bogging down the story. He gives enough personal details about Tim to help the reader understand him and his family but doesn’t revel in family drama.
You are left with a sleek book that would make a lot of people pretty interested.
March 14, 2018
This was a wonderful book to give you insight into the man who chased and studied tornadoes. I, like many others, first got to know Mr. Samaras through the Discovery Channel's Storm Chaser show. This book let me know more about him, both in his personal life and his professional. For instance, I had no idea he never spent a day in college. He was so brilliant that it is hard to imagine that he didn't have a degree to his name.
To many a tornado is a thing to be feared, as it well should be! But for others, it is one of the Earth's last mysteries waiting to be discovered. Hopefully the research and ideas that Mr. Samaras left us will further unlock the mystery in future generations.
I was given an eARC by the publisher through NetGalley.
To many a tornado is a thing to be feared, as it well should be! But for others, it is one of the Earth's last mysteries waiting to be discovered. Hopefully the research and ideas that Mr. Samaras left us will further unlock the mystery in future generations.
I was given an eARC by the publisher through NetGalley.
July 28, 2018
All Netflix documentaries are about obsessives -- this one just happens to be in print form. It's a wonderfully well-written, often gripping, more than sufficiently informative, and ultimately moving literary biopic about Tim Samaras, a tornado obsessive known for his presence on the show "Storm Chasers" but who more so was an innovator/trailblazer in the field of extreme meteorology. This often reminded me of a contemporary update on Moby-Dick, with Tim like Ahab chasing that great black cloud in the sky, a whale of a storm he encounters on May 31, 2013, the day of the El Reno tornado in Oklahoma. You may be wondering why I read this? It's not Austrian peri-WWII fiction! Our five-year-old daughter makes us watch a lot of "Tornado Hunters" (she LOVES Ricky Forbes) and "Storm Chasers." After seeing pretty much every episode of both shows multiple times I've learned a little about wall clouds and inflow tails and now always keep an eye on the skies with my kid, wondering if those menacing clouds over there might soon go tornadic and touch down (unlikely in Philadelphia). Here's a great video about the massive (2.6 miles wide), nasty (multiple subvortices attaining ~300 MPH winds) El Reno tornado and the storm chasers who made it out and those who weren't so lucky that day: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VZ2Q... -- RIP Tim Samaras, Paul Samaras, and Carl Young. Can't wait for the Netfix documentary based on this book -- it really deserves the full visual treatment, considering the subject matter, although the author did such a fantastic job deploying active and evocative descriptive language throughout that it feels like I've already watched the doc in a way. Maybe later I'll add some quotations and phrases that really made this book come alive.
March 19, 2025
"Chasing gave me respect for how much energy is in the air we breathe."
August 28, 2025
do i need to watch storm chasers now
March 26, 2020
It's possible, though unlikely, that you read my review from last August of "The Topeka School," one of 2019's best reviewed books.
If you didn't, that's ok — I'll give you the abridged version. The book sucked. Not least because its cover, very deceptively, depicts a tornado, a churning mass of black wind, threatening cars on a nearby highway. This despite there being absolutely zero tornadoes anywhere in the book.
I was upset, I still am. Don't judge a book by its cover? Oh, I do, and that cover straight up lied.
My desire to read about tornadoes was, obviously, not sated, so I had to instead find an actual book about tornadoes. Which led me to "The Man Who Caught the Storm: The Life of Legendary Tornado Chaser Tim Samaras."
Unlike "The Topeka School," this is a book about tornadoes that doesn't, for whatever reason, actually feature a tornado on the cover — only some suspicious cloud formations. But it has got the goods, by which I mean, tornadoes — loads of them!
I've long been interested in the tornado as natural phenomenon. The Arikara tribe of North Dakota called tornados "the black wind," while other Native American tribes referred to them as the "whirlwind woman." Point is, tornadoes have intrigued and mystified humanity for the entire course of our existence.
As the title would suggest, this work of nonfiction follows a chaser who is even more intrigued by tornadoes than the rest of us, and his journey is a harrowing one.
All sorts of interesting factoids riddle this thing, mostly concerning the science of tornadoes. One such factoid is that it is infinitely more likely, statistically, for a tornado chaser to die on the way to the site of a possible tornado than it is for him or her to actually die as a result of the tornado itself.
Car accidents, we forget, are still one of the top causes of death both globally and in the US.
I was very surprised to learn that Samaras was reportedly the very first storm chaser to be killed by a tornado. And unlike those who chase for merely sport, Samaras was driven in a scientific pursuit to discover how tornadoes form and why, in an effort to create more effective early warning systems for those ultimately devastated by them.
If it sounds like the plot of "Twister," that's because it is pretty literally the plot of "Twister."
Tornadoes are beautiful occurrences in nature, and yet are terribly destructive as well. "The Man Who Caught the Storm" is a great look at "the black wind" and gives you a new appreciation for the mysteries of Mother Nature . If you have any interest in the subject, I highly recommend this one.
If you didn't, that's ok — I'll give you the abridged version. The book sucked. Not least because its cover, very deceptively, depicts a tornado, a churning mass of black wind, threatening cars on a nearby highway. This despite there being absolutely zero tornadoes anywhere in the book.
I was upset, I still am. Don't judge a book by its cover? Oh, I do, and that cover straight up lied.
My desire to read about tornadoes was, obviously, not sated, so I had to instead find an actual book about tornadoes. Which led me to "The Man Who Caught the Storm: The Life of Legendary Tornado Chaser Tim Samaras."
Unlike "The Topeka School," this is a book about tornadoes that doesn't, for whatever reason, actually feature a tornado on the cover — only some suspicious cloud formations. But it has got the goods, by which I mean, tornadoes — loads of them!
I've long been interested in the tornado as natural phenomenon. The Arikara tribe of North Dakota called tornados "the black wind," while other Native American tribes referred to them as the "whirlwind woman." Point is, tornadoes have intrigued and mystified humanity for the entire course of our existence.
As the title would suggest, this work of nonfiction follows a chaser who is even more intrigued by tornadoes than the rest of us, and his journey is a harrowing one.
All sorts of interesting factoids riddle this thing, mostly concerning the science of tornadoes. One such factoid is that it is infinitely more likely, statistically, for a tornado chaser to die on the way to the site of a possible tornado than it is for him or her to actually die as a result of the tornado itself.
Car accidents, we forget, are still one of the top causes of death both globally and in the US.
I was very surprised to learn that Samaras was reportedly the very first storm chaser to be killed by a tornado. And unlike those who chase for merely sport, Samaras was driven in a scientific pursuit to discover how tornadoes form and why, in an effort to create more effective early warning systems for those ultimately devastated by them.
If it sounds like the plot of "Twister," that's because it is pretty literally the plot of "Twister."
Tornadoes are beautiful occurrences in nature, and yet are terribly destructive as well. "The Man Who Caught the Storm" is a great look at "the black wind" and gives you a new appreciation for the mysteries of Mother Nature . If you have any interest in the subject, I highly recommend this one.
March 16, 2019
Chewed my way through in less than 24 hours. A brilliantly written, accessible, informative, fast-paced narrative. A solid tribute to a man whose skills, curiosity, patience, and drive pushed the limits of science forward in a way that, one day, save more lives.
October 16, 2019
reading this book felt like running a marathon only that marathon is also an obstacle course and also there's quicksand entirely made up of the bloated words and phrases this author used in this overly-flowery snooze fest about what would otherwise be a very interesting narrative
March 26, 2018
Review written: March 26, 2018
Star Rating: ★★★★★
Heat Rating: N/A
An Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this book was received free via Netgalley for an honest review.
Several years ago - I have no way of remembering now exactly when - I saw an article out of National Geographic in my RSS newsfeed. It was about the death of Tim Samaras. At the time, I knew the name, that he was a renowned storm chaser, and now I knew he was dead. He had been killed by the very thing he spent his life chasing. I remember wanting to cry. I didn't know Samaras; I wasn't a chaser; I had little real interest beyond curiosity. But I knew that Samaras was a great man, that he was a great chaser, that he had taught us more than anyone about tornadoes. And I knew in that moment that the loss of Samaras was a deep blow to science and the entire study of tornadoes.
Small wonder then that when I saw The Man Who Caught the Storm on Netgalley that I jumped at the chance to read it. To say that it has been an honor and a privilege to read this biography may seem hyperbole, but it isn't. From the moment I started reading, I felt connected to Samaras.
His early years as a "tinkerer" made me think of my father. His curious but engineer-y mind made me think of all the people I work with. His focus, his passion, his drive, his desire to unravel the mystery and save lives all demanded I take notice. The first third of this book is about the early years: growing up, meeting his wife, working for the government, and being insatiably curious about the storms. Hargrove sets the tone immediately. The excitement and eagerness is in the tone, the word choice, the cadence. It's impossible not to be drawn in, to feel . As the chase rachets up and the danger becomes more palpable, Samaras works to be better.
The second third of the book is the "middle years" but it is also about the ties he forges with other chasers, others studying the tornadoes and storms. It's a beautifully crafted discussion of the rise of Samaras to fame. This portion could have become bogged down and dragged. But, it didn't. Instead, the emotion of the relationship - even when those relationships are not good - keeps this middle portion interesting and exciting. It also teaches extensively about storms and tornadoes. It was fascinating! Hargrove taught effortlessly. When describing the processes behind tornado birth, he uses the same emotional language he uses to recount chases or to describe relationships. It's interesting to read and completely accessible to non-science people.
The final third of the book is the last chase. The dramatic irony of this book is that we all know how it ends. Samaras, his son Paul, and fellow chaser Carl are going to die, taken by the very storm they are chasing. For me, this only heightened the tension of the entire book. It's coming - that final chase, that final storm - and when it does it will be a storm to end storms. It's that Sword of Damocles hanging over everything else - the wide-eyed young Samaras, the seasoned veteran, the dedicated chaser - and this knowledge infuses everything with an intense poignancy which is only underscored by Hargrove's excellent and compelling word choices. In the end, it takes a monster to take out a legend, and that tornado was a monster. The level of detail about the timing, the locations, the speed and shape of the tornado are incredible, built up from information from many sources - everything from someone just a few hundred yards ahead of them who survived to mobile Doppler and many other first hand accounts as well as the cameras running inside the car.
This is a deeply emotional work and Hargrove took the time and effort to understand Samaras the man as well as Samaras the chaser. It shows. I feel like I know him. I feel like I understand his drive. Hargrove says Samaras' wife Kathy was invaluable in giving him a look into Samaras' heart. There were many people interviewed and how allowed correspondence to be used for this book. IT shows because I feel like I got a glimpse into the heart of the man, that Hargrove has forged a connection between a legend and a reader. I laughed and I cried.
Hargrove thanks many people for helping him write this book. I feel like thanks are needed. First, to Hargrove for caring enough to write this, his first book. Second, to Kathy Samaras for letting us see into the heart of her husband. Third, all the people who helped Samaras in his quest to see into the heart of the tornado and all those who worked with him in some capacity. And lastly, but perhaps most importantly, I want to thank Tim Samaras for being curious, for caring enough to want to make a difference, for chasing his dreams and the storms.
There's an old quote regarding courtship, "She chased him so hard, he caught her." Every time I see the title, I think of this quote and how truly appropriate it is to Samaras.
This review is ©March 2018 by Monique N. and has been posted to Netgalley.
Star Rating: ★★★★★
Heat Rating: N/A
An Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this book was received free via Netgalley for an honest review.
Several years ago - I have no way of remembering now exactly when - I saw an article out of National Geographic in my RSS newsfeed. It was about the death of Tim Samaras. At the time, I knew the name, that he was a renowned storm chaser, and now I knew he was dead. He had been killed by the very thing he spent his life chasing. I remember wanting to cry. I didn't know Samaras; I wasn't a chaser; I had little real interest beyond curiosity. But I knew that Samaras was a great man, that he was a great chaser, that he had taught us more than anyone about tornadoes. And I knew in that moment that the loss of Samaras was a deep blow to science and the entire study of tornadoes.
Small wonder then that when I saw The Man Who Caught the Storm on Netgalley that I jumped at the chance to read it. To say that it has been an honor and a privilege to read this biography may seem hyperbole, but it isn't. From the moment I started reading, I felt connected to Samaras.
His early years as a "tinkerer" made me think of my father. His curious but engineer-y mind made me think of all the people I work with. His focus, his passion, his drive, his desire to unravel the mystery and save lives all demanded I take notice. The first third of this book is about the early years: growing up, meeting his wife, working for the government, and being insatiably curious about the storms. Hargrove sets the tone immediately. The excitement and eagerness is in the tone, the word choice, the cadence. It's impossible not to be drawn in, to feel . As the chase rachets up and the danger becomes more palpable, Samaras works to be better.
The second third of the book is the "middle years" but it is also about the ties he forges with other chasers, others studying the tornadoes and storms. It's a beautifully crafted discussion of the rise of Samaras to fame. This portion could have become bogged down and dragged. But, it didn't. Instead, the emotion of the relationship - even when those relationships are not good - keeps this middle portion interesting and exciting. It also teaches extensively about storms and tornadoes. It was fascinating! Hargrove taught effortlessly. When describing the processes behind tornado birth, he uses the same emotional language he uses to recount chases or to describe relationships. It's interesting to read and completely accessible to non-science people.
The final third of the book is the last chase. The dramatic irony of this book is that we all know how it ends. Samaras, his son Paul, and fellow chaser Carl are going to die, taken by the very storm they are chasing. For me, this only heightened the tension of the entire book. It's coming - that final chase, that final storm - and when it does it will be a storm to end storms. It's that Sword of Damocles hanging over everything else - the wide-eyed young Samaras, the seasoned veteran, the dedicated chaser - and this knowledge infuses everything with an intense poignancy which is only underscored by Hargrove's excellent and compelling word choices. In the end, it takes a monster to take out a legend, and that tornado was a monster. The level of detail about the timing, the locations, the speed and shape of the tornado are incredible, built up from information from many sources - everything from someone just a few hundred yards ahead of them who survived to mobile Doppler and many other first hand accounts as well as the cameras running inside the car.
This is a deeply emotional work and Hargrove took the time and effort to understand Samaras the man as well as Samaras the chaser. It shows. I feel like I know him. I feel like I understand his drive. Hargrove says Samaras' wife Kathy was invaluable in giving him a look into Samaras' heart. There were many people interviewed and how allowed correspondence to be used for this book. IT shows because I feel like I got a glimpse into the heart of the man, that Hargrove has forged a connection between a legend and a reader. I laughed and I cried.
Hargrove thanks many people for helping him write this book. I feel like thanks are needed. First, to Hargrove for caring enough to write this, his first book. Second, to Kathy Samaras for letting us see into the heart of her husband. Third, all the people who helped Samaras in his quest to see into the heart of the tornado and all those who worked with him in some capacity. And lastly, but perhaps most importantly, I want to thank Tim Samaras for being curious, for caring enough to want to make a difference, for chasing his dreams and the storms.
There's an old quote regarding courtship, "She chased him so hard, he caught her." Every time I see the title, I think of this quote and how truly appropriate it is to Samaras.
This review is ©March 2018 by Monique N. and has been posted to Netgalley.
Read
May 19, 2018I put this on my "to listen" list when I saw it was a book about a tornado chaser because I love anything to do with tornadoes. It's horror, but real life, and actually terrifying. I didn't realize Tim Samaras was the guy from Storm Chasers, which I tried watching and found boring.
Which, as it turns out, was the point. Samaras was a real even-keeled sort of guy and he found the entire production to be worthwhile for the money, but all of the big dramatic stuff had nothing to do with what chasing his way was about. That was the TV stuff, and so, finding it boring was finding it realistic.
A fascinating look at a man who didn't have a formal education but worked hard enough to play with those who did a lot of school. It's not a spoiler to say he died, but I hadn't considered it when I began listening -- I knew so little (nothing) about him. But Hargrove handles it really well, and I found the book to be really interesting start to finish.
It'll appeal to weather geeks and storm lovers. The audio was pretty good; the narrator's voice was a little weird between chapters, his tenor going up and down unexpectedly, but his deep voice really added a layer to the book.
Which, as it turns out, was the point. Samaras was a real even-keeled sort of guy and he found the entire production to be worthwhile for the money, but all of the big dramatic stuff had nothing to do with what chasing his way was about. That was the TV stuff, and so, finding it boring was finding it realistic.
A fascinating look at a man who didn't have a formal education but worked hard enough to play with those who did a lot of school. It's not a spoiler to say he died, but I hadn't considered it when I began listening -- I knew so little (nothing) about him. But Hargrove handles it really well, and I found the book to be really interesting start to finish.
It'll appeal to weather geeks and storm lovers. The audio was pretty good; the narrator's voice was a little weird between chapters, his tenor going up and down unexpectedly, but his deep voice really added a layer to the book.
July 9, 2018
This book was definitely one I'd never pick up unless I ran a book club that suggested it, and it mutually would have been a fantastic read if rated by my disaster-loving father. For me it was gripping and terrifying alternately and I'm amazed at their fearlessness for helping us understand Tornadoes better for architecture development, engineering controls and other warnings to prevent loss of life. I also had no idea the USA is fairly unique in its quantity and veracity of tornadoes, few other countries worldwide are as plagued. I am however glad to be done with this book, I've been dreaming about tornadoes and they still terrify me...just at a slightly less crippling level than 20 years ago! Had to give this a 4 as despite all of this, still managed to bore me about 1/3 of the way in with a lot of unnecessary and kind of boring detail that I could have happily edited out. In good news, this resolved with persistent reading and the back half of this book was stunning.
April 6, 2018
As the author mentions of the wonder, adrenaline, and a pull exerted towards hunting down the tornados, this truth work also pulled me through, as a newbie of tornados, through all the technicalities to the final days of the brave Storm chaser Tim Samaras.
Captivating at times, informative right through of the determination and obsession Tim Samaras possessed and displayed to achieve his goals against a great giant and monster, within his own David and goliath narrative, up against a devastating entity that rips asunder all in its path, living on the edge and right through, through the eye of the storm, taken by the hand of the author with meticulously researched work.
Review with tornado and Tim Samaras bio videos @ https://more2read.com/review/the-man-who-caught-the-storm-by-brantley-hargrove/
Captivating at times, informative right through of the determination and obsession Tim Samaras possessed and displayed to achieve his goals against a great giant and monster, within his own David and goliath narrative, up against a devastating entity that rips asunder all in its path, living on the edge and right through, through the eye of the storm, taken by the hand of the author with meticulously researched work.
Review with tornado and Tim Samaras bio videos @ https://more2read.com/review/the-man-who-caught-the-storm-by-brantley-hargrove/
January 3, 2025
Would recommend to the average weather fan. If that’s not you, it’s not too late to change
August 28, 2025
I finished this in one sitting and ruined my sleep schedule
May 17, 2018
I really enjoyed this book, but towards the end knowing they were going to die and how they died just made me really sad. What a great man lost. I feel like he is more of a silent hero and someone kids could look up to about following your passion and not giving up even when everyone seems to think you will fail. Throughout the book I wanted Tim's perspective and I know that is impossible, but I wonder what his thoughts were during his career about what and why he did what he did.
March 15, 2018
Received from NetGalley. Full review to come.
+++++++++
Let's just get this out of the way right now - this book is one of my few 5 Star reads of the year and it was fantastic. I could not put it down. I mean, I was forced to when I had to go to work and such, but the book was an awe-inspiring glimpse into the life of a man who KNEW tornadoes and that ultimately cost him his life.
I've lived in the Midwest my whole life, Minnesota and Nebraska. I have been very lucky to have never actually crossed paths with a tornado, but they are terrifying nonetheless, as well they should be. As much fun as it is to go out and chase, this book and the death of Tim Samaras shows that even for the professionals, that choice can have tragic consequences.
See my full review on my blog: https://allthebookblognamesaretaken.b...
+++++++++
Let's just get this out of the way right now - this book is one of my few 5 Star reads of the year and it was fantastic. I could not put it down. I mean, I was forced to when I had to go to work and such, but the book was an awe-inspiring glimpse into the life of a man who KNEW tornadoes and that ultimately cost him his life.
I've lived in the Midwest my whole life, Minnesota and Nebraska. I have been very lucky to have never actually crossed paths with a tornado, but they are terrifying nonetheless, as well they should be. As much fun as it is to go out and chase, this book and the death of Tim Samaras shows that even for the professionals, that choice can have tragic consequences.
See my full review on my blog: https://allthebookblognamesaretaken.b...
March 5, 2019
It's always challenging to read a book about people you know. As a journalist, I interviewed Tim Samaras on multiple occasions and saw him present at multiple Chasercons. I also know and interviewed at least a half-dozen of the major players in this book about the man who was arguably the nation's best-known storm chaser. In many ways, Tim was the quintessential American success story: an underdog who defied conventional wisdom to conduct some of the most important tornado research ever done. To Hargrove's credit, he captured Tim's complex personality well. He was a contradiction in some ways: a chaser considered perhaps the safest in the industry who was nonetheless dancing with death every time he deployed probes in a tornado's path. His passion and devotion to unlocking the secrets of tornadoes both propelled him to unmatched successes and drove him to his date with destiny on a lonely dirt road in Oklahoma on the last day of May in 2013. The account of Tim's final chase is riveting...and heart-wrenching. While I found some of the prose a bit purple for my taste, this book is a must-read for any tornado geeks or fans of severe weather. Then again, I would encourage anyone to read it. They would discover that the art of storm chasing is far more sophisticated than is commonly known.
April 18, 2018
I don’t think there are enough words to describe how powerful and emotional this book is. It’s a loving testament to the lives of Tim, Paul & Carl and how deeply their loss is felt
June 6, 2018
I thought the 2nd half of the book was stronger than the first half. I wish the writer had not written in the present tense.
April 11, 2018
A brilliant piece of work, it's hard to believe that this is Brantley Hargrove's first book. Organized and researched flawlessly, Hargrove not only displays excellent research and writing skills, his grasp of the science is superb.
Tim Samaras, it turns out, was much more than the image portrayed in National Geographic and on the Discovery Channel. He had a reputation for being a cautious chaser, but it's shown here that he long took the kind of risks that eventually killed him, his son Paul, and his chase partner Carl Young. Importantly, though, Samaras was not a thrill seeker. Although he lacked an academic degree, he was a scientist in every sense of the word, and a man who sought to understand and solve the puzzle of why tornadoes form, what makes one tornado an EF1 and another an EF5 monster, and what affects their lifespan. He went about this by creating the first successful tornado probe. Carefully analyzing why earlier probes like TOTO had failed, Samaras used his work experience to design a probe that would actually be pushed firmly down to the ground by tornado winds rather than lifted and blown over or away. The result was the triumphant deployment of HITPR - better known by its nickname, the "turtle," into the core of an EF4 tornado near Manchester, South Dakota.
Samaras improved his probes and put together a scientific chase team, TWISTEX. In a sad indictment of our supposedly egalitarian society, Samaras' ability to raise grant money was affected by his lack of a college degree, and he had to resort to endorsing products and appearing on a Discovery Channel TV series to pay the bills.
At the end of his life, Samaras was starting ground-breaking research on lightning, helping to design a new instrumented vehicle for the purpose. But in the middle of his work, a tornado outbreak drew his attention, and the result was catastrophe.
Hargrove had the advantage of writing about a man whose life was well-documented, and whose wife, daughters, and illegitimate (but acknowledged and loved) son, as well as his research associates and friends, cooperated. This makes the story complete and accurate, and permits Hargrove to give a full portrait of Samaras and his research - and his tragic death in the El Reno tornado.
One gripe can likely be laid at the publisher or editors - there are no illustrations or maps, at all. There are few natural phenomena as photogenic as tornadoes, and Samaras was a skilled photographer as well as a researcher, as was his son Paul. It boggles that none of their photographs are featured. The book would have also benefited from an explanatory diagram or two, and a map of the final chase. Again, I doubt this was Hargrove's choice, and he ought to be proud of his work here. Highly recommended not only to people interested in Samaras, his work, or tornadoes, but to anyone who enjoys a well crafted biography.
Tim Samaras, it turns out, was much more than the image portrayed in National Geographic and on the Discovery Channel. He had a reputation for being a cautious chaser, but it's shown here that he long took the kind of risks that eventually killed him, his son Paul, and his chase partner Carl Young. Importantly, though, Samaras was not a thrill seeker. Although he lacked an academic degree, he was a scientist in every sense of the word, and a man who sought to understand and solve the puzzle of why tornadoes form, what makes one tornado an EF1 and another an EF5 monster, and what affects their lifespan. He went about this by creating the first successful tornado probe. Carefully analyzing why earlier probes like TOTO had failed, Samaras used his work experience to design a probe that would actually be pushed firmly down to the ground by tornado winds rather than lifted and blown over or away. The result was the triumphant deployment of HITPR - better known by its nickname, the "turtle," into the core of an EF4 tornado near Manchester, South Dakota.
Samaras improved his probes and put together a scientific chase team, TWISTEX. In a sad indictment of our supposedly egalitarian society, Samaras' ability to raise grant money was affected by his lack of a college degree, and he had to resort to endorsing products and appearing on a Discovery Channel TV series to pay the bills.
At the end of his life, Samaras was starting ground-breaking research on lightning, helping to design a new instrumented vehicle for the purpose. But in the middle of his work, a tornado outbreak drew his attention, and the result was catastrophe.
Hargrove had the advantage of writing about a man whose life was well-documented, and whose wife, daughters, and illegitimate (but acknowledged and loved) son, as well as his research associates and friends, cooperated. This makes the story complete and accurate, and permits Hargrove to give a full portrait of Samaras and his research - and his tragic death in the El Reno tornado.
One gripe can likely be laid at the publisher or editors - there are no illustrations or maps, at all. There are few natural phenomena as photogenic as tornadoes, and Samaras was a skilled photographer as well as a researcher, as was his son Paul. It boggles that none of their photographs are featured. The book would have also benefited from an explanatory diagram or two, and a map of the final chase. Again, I doubt this was Hargrove's choice, and he ought to be proud of his work here. Highly recommended not only to people interested in Samaras, his work, or tornadoes, but to anyone who enjoys a well crafted biography.
December 23, 2024
As a weather-obsessed child, I would spend hours reading books I had gotten from the library about the history of tornadoes, climate change, and the science of meteorology in general, I became intimately familiar with the TV show Storm Chasers, watching episodes over and over again, and I always made my mom turn on the Weather Channel in the morning as I ate breakfast. A year into my fascination with the atmosphere, I sat at my kitchen counter and watched in horror as Moore, OK, was decimated by an EF5 on May 20th, 2013. Eleven days later, I watched the El Reno, OK tornado as it bore down on the Weather Channel crew and tossed their SUV across an open field. Only a little while later, I would learn that Tim Samaras, who I idolized and looked up to as an example of genius and pure determination in the field, had passed away, along with his son and chasing partner. I was devastated, but also motivated. I wanted to follow in his footsteps.
Somewhere along the line, I fell out of love with mathematics and didn’t go into atmospheric science like I had planned to for so much of my life. But I’ve never lost the love and fascination with the sky and the people who study it— and so here I am, reading this beautiful biography.
I was so moved by Kathy’s sections towards the end— to lose your husband and son in a once-in-a-million event, when he promised you he would be careful, especially with the life of her only son— it takes an incredible amount of strength to get past that.
I was also entranced with this author’s description of storms— how they form, mesocyclones, the RFD, and the tornadoes themselves. He really helped the reader to understand why someone would spend so much of their life on a wild goose chase trying to put probes into tornadoes.
Cathy Finley’s role in this story is, I think, not discussed enough— and her research since Tim’s death has been really valuable to the field, so I enjoyed hearing about her too!
Moral of the story is— I feel like I’m ten years old again, ready to take on the sky myself, after reading this book.
Somewhere along the line, I fell out of love with mathematics and didn’t go into atmospheric science like I had planned to for so much of my life. But I’ve never lost the love and fascination with the sky and the people who study it— and so here I am, reading this beautiful biography.
I was so moved by Kathy’s sections towards the end— to lose your husband and son in a once-in-a-million event, when he promised you he would be careful, especially with the life of her only son— it takes an incredible amount of strength to get past that.
I was also entranced with this author’s description of storms— how they form, mesocyclones, the RFD, and the tornadoes themselves. He really helped the reader to understand why someone would spend so much of their life on a wild goose chase trying to put probes into tornadoes.
Cathy Finley’s role in this story is, I think, not discussed enough— and her research since Tim’s death has been really valuable to the field, so I enjoyed hearing about her too!
Moral of the story is— I feel like I’m ten years old again, ready to take on the sky myself, after reading this book.
January 29, 2023
I never forget that I am absolutely obsessed with weather, and specifically wild weather. It's pretty difficult to forget when you sky-watch as much as I do and greet weather warnings with all the pomp and ceremony of a national holiday, but every so often I read or watch something that makes me acutely aware of what an honour it is to live on a planet where such incredible things happen. This is one of those books, and unsurprisingly, it's a book about the man who first woke me up to the kind of potential this interest has. I watched Storm Chasers obsessively when I was younger, and ate up whatever tornado footage I could find even before that. Of course I came across Tim Samaras.
The book isn't the most complex reading, and it skips over or summarises chunks that I would have liked to see in more detail, but what's there is solid and intensely exciting. There's obvious passion throughout the whole thing, both on the author's part for his subject, but also Tim's passion, which comes through loud and clear and is a wonderful tribute to a man who dedicated his life to what he loved. It's a fascinating book, filled with weather drama and technical details, all the excitement of a storm chase -- it's impressive, how Hargrove manages to capture that action and pace through text, when so many people are used to seeing tornados on screen. Somehow none of the awe is lost. It's also intensely heartbreaking, and while some comfort can be had from knowing that Tim lived his life in a way he loved, it's undeniable that the world lost a lot when he was killed, and it's devastating to think that we'll never truly know the full impact of his loss. Loud and clear on the page, however, was the reality of Tim's wife, who lost both her husband and their son, and of his many friends. What a complicated thing it must be to love one of these "obsessive dead," but they do so with grace and sincerity.
This is definitely one I'm going to reread. It brings me back to the days when I would comandeer the remote control from my parents and sit a foot away from the television, subjecting them all to half an hour of tornado footage and my gawking face.
The book isn't the most complex reading, and it skips over or summarises chunks that I would have liked to see in more detail, but what's there is solid and intensely exciting. There's obvious passion throughout the whole thing, both on the author's part for his subject, but also Tim's passion, which comes through loud and clear and is a wonderful tribute to a man who dedicated his life to what he loved. It's a fascinating book, filled with weather drama and technical details, all the excitement of a storm chase -- it's impressive, how Hargrove manages to capture that action and pace through text, when so many people are used to seeing tornados on screen. Somehow none of the awe is lost. It's also intensely heartbreaking, and while some comfort can be had from knowing that Tim lived his life in a way he loved, it's undeniable that the world lost a lot when he was killed, and it's devastating to think that we'll never truly know the full impact of his loss. Loud and clear on the page, however, was the reality of Tim's wife, who lost both her husband and their son, and of his many friends. What a complicated thing it must be to love one of these "obsessive dead," but they do so with grace and sincerity.
This is definitely one I'm going to reread. It brings me back to the days when I would comandeer the remote control from my parents and sit a foot away from the television, subjecting them all to half an hour of tornado footage and my gawking face.
October 17, 2022
Read the review at Disorderly Daydreams blog.
This was probably the saddest book I will read in 2022. If you've ever followed storm chasing, then you probably know of Tim Samaras. He was a legendary chaser who sought to understand tornadoes and how they are formed in order to help save lives. His death was truly a tragedy and tornado science study lost someone who was making a real difference in the world.
The Man Who Caught the Storm: The Life of Legendary Tornado Chaser Tim Samaras is a biography of Tim's life. It includes his beginnings, his struggles, his discoveries, and personal stories, some of which are surprising. Did you know that Tim never received a college degree? He was an autodidact who learned on his own. Imagine being an engineer without ever going through some of the hardest college courses and still being good at being an engineer.
Tim's story is filled with inspiration and shares the belief that you should never give up on your purpose. It was a dark day when the chasing community lost Tim, his son Paul, and Carl Young but their work still makes a difference today. I put off reading this book for a long, long time, but I am so glad that I took the time to listen to it on audiobook. I learned a lot from Tim's story and will rethink my desires to storm chase someday.
This was probably the saddest book I will read in 2022. If you've ever followed storm chasing, then you probably know of Tim Samaras. He was a legendary chaser who sought to understand tornadoes and how they are formed in order to help save lives. His death was truly a tragedy and tornado science study lost someone who was making a real difference in the world.
The Man Who Caught the Storm: The Life of Legendary Tornado Chaser Tim Samaras is a biography of Tim's life. It includes his beginnings, his struggles, his discoveries, and personal stories, some of which are surprising. Did you know that Tim never received a college degree? He was an autodidact who learned on his own. Imagine being an engineer without ever going through some of the hardest college courses and still being good at being an engineer.
Tim's story is filled with inspiration and shares the belief that you should never give up on your purpose. It was a dark day when the chasing community lost Tim, his son Paul, and Carl Young but their work still makes a difference today. I put off reading this book for a long, long time, but I am so glad that I took the time to listen to it on audiobook. I learned a lot from Tim's story and will rethink my desires to storm chase someday.
December 18, 2023
I didn’t even know Tim Samaras existed until 10.5 years after his death, but this book is a shining homage to his life and his obsession.
A brilliant man who had an inborn knack for taking things apart and finding out what made them tick, it’s not surprising that one passion was applied to another. This application brought innovation that no one else had envisioned. It was like the tornadoes were waiting for Tim Samaras to grow up and mature so that he could start the process of unlocking the mysteries they had kept hidden for so long.
In spite of his love/obsession with storms and tornadoes, he was still a loving husband and father. With a job that had him traveling regularly and a passion that did the same, his wife was also an amazing woman in that she never discouraged him from his goals.
The loss of Tim, Carl, and Paul is beyond tragic. Though their mark in the history of storm chasers will likely live on for generations to come. This book is well worth the listen if you have ever looked at the sky and been fascinated by the majesty of Mother Nature at her most beautiful and most destructive.
A brilliant man who had an inborn knack for taking things apart and finding out what made them tick, it’s not surprising that one passion was applied to another. This application brought innovation that no one else had envisioned. It was like the tornadoes were waiting for Tim Samaras to grow up and mature so that he could start the process of unlocking the mysteries they had kept hidden for so long.
In spite of his love/obsession with storms and tornadoes, he was still a loving husband and father. With a job that had him traveling regularly and a passion that did the same, his wife was also an amazing woman in that she never discouraged him from his goals.
The loss of Tim, Carl, and Paul is beyond tragic. Though their mark in the history of storm chasers will likely live on for generations to come. This book is well worth the listen if you have ever looked at the sky and been fascinated by the majesty of Mother Nature at her most beautiful and most destructive.
November 10, 2025
While I knew nothing about the life of a storm chaser, or even much about tornadoes, I found this book very interesting. Brantley Hargrove had a good blend of explaining the science of the natural disaster, the heartwarming details of Tim Samaras' life, the drama of the field, and the history of the tornado.
I gave this book only 4 stars because there were moments that catered more towards those who are more familiar with weather science, and my eyes glazed over in those moments. Some of the book did feel too technical for a casual reader. However, I'm sure a meteorologist would be tapped in to the lingo, so this is truly just a casual reader problem.
I'm glad I took the time to read about Tim Samaras and the work he has done. Because of his ingenuity, scientists have been able to develop safer infrastructure, provide tornado warnings with better accuracy, and conduct research in ways that had not yet been imagined. And it was all thanks to an unassuming guy from Lakewood, CO with nothing more than a high school diploma. Who would've thunk?!
I gave this book only 4 stars because there were moments that catered more towards those who are more familiar with weather science, and my eyes glazed over in those moments. Some of the book did feel too technical for a casual reader. However, I'm sure a meteorologist would be tapped in to the lingo, so this is truly just a casual reader problem.
I'm glad I took the time to read about Tim Samaras and the work he has done. Because of his ingenuity, scientists have been able to develop safer infrastructure, provide tornado warnings with better accuracy, and conduct research in ways that had not yet been imagined. And it was all thanks to an unassuming guy from Lakewood, CO with nothing more than a high school diploma. Who would've thunk?!
August 29, 2021
My rating might be biased by knowing so many of the people featured in this book, including having met Tim himself. We also chased the fateful El Reno storm. Knowledge that deep about the subject matter could breed skepticism and nit-picking, but in this case, the author served the meteorology and the people well with his descriptions. The weather tidbits were occasionally oversimplified, but it's about as good as I've read in a weather-related book intended for non-meteorologist audiences. Even knowing the tragic outcome, the author wove a suspenseful story that made the tragic end seem a little less surprising than it felt at the time.
For those who want to read more about my own connection to the El Reno chase, I wrote about it shortly after it occurred. https://www.bousteadhill.net/wilder_w...
For those who want to read more about my own connection to the El Reno chase, I wrote about it shortly after it occurred. https://www.bousteadhill.net/wilder_w...
August 28, 2023
I remember Tim Samaras from many middle-of-the-night nursing sessions with my first child, spent watching the only interesting thing on TV, reruns of Storm Chasers. When I was a child, I was terrified of tornados. I can still vividly see the recurring nightmare I had--looking out the window (of a house I haven't lived in for 26 years) and seeing multiple tornados on the ground. Watching those episodes, it seemed wild to me that people actually put themselves so close to the reach of the storms.
I probably didn't realize that at that time, and even to this day, that there is so much that is still unknown about the lives of tornados--how and why they intensify when they do, and what is actually happening within. I certainly didn't know that Tim ended up losing his life in the pursuit of this knowledge.
This book is an evocative glimpse into the world of storm chasers and specifically into the singular life and mind of Tim Samaras. Highly recommended.
I probably didn't realize that at that time, and even to this day, that there is so much that is still unknown about the lives of tornados--how and why they intensify when they do, and what is actually happening within. I certainly didn't know that Tim ended up losing his life in the pursuit of this knowledge.
This book is an evocative glimpse into the world of storm chasers and specifically into the singular life and mind of Tim Samaras. Highly recommended.
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