Jaw-dropping, violent tornado hurling deadly softball hail! June 22, 2012

TVN storm chasers Reed Timmer, Dick McGowan, Chris Chittick and Chad Cowan intercepted a violent tornado in extreme southwestern South Dakota on June 22, 2012! This was two days before the first tornadoes touched down in Florida with Tropical Storm Debby. Chasing without the protection of the Dominator's Lexan windows, massive hail being driven by hurricane-force winds in the near-tornado environment blew out several windows on their vehicle as they remained focused on documenting one of 2012's most photogenic tornadoes! Visit http://www.tvnweather.com for live chasing from the field, and webisodes (coming soon!) which will detail the rest of the story from the 2012 season!

• Category

  News & Politics

[CONTRA449]

1:21 "Cover me with somethinnnnng!!" *places skimpy wet paper towel on his back*

[Josh Woody]

Thank god they had those Bosch wiper blades protecting them from the 100 mph softball size hail!

[Jeremy Hilss]

Yeah but one of the reasons chasers do what they do is for the exhileration and the excitement of the situation they're in when they're close to a tornado. For the most part people freak like that when they are THAT close to a twister. Plus storm chasing and being a paramedic are two COMPLETELY different things.

[Michael Jordan]

1:41 a fucking RAINBOW! Are you kidding me? Awesome!

[WhatStef]

Yes but a chaser still encounters more tornados than the average person, yet when some Average Joe is filming one from his front yard, he is relatively calm and collected - save for a few curse words and shaky camera. I'm a Paramedic; I see more gory stuff than the average person but not on a daily basis. When I do see it, I don't start screaming "EW, OH GOD, LOOK AT THOSE GUTS!!!" If chasers can't control themselves and stay calm in a hairy situation, they shouldn't be chasing tornados.

[silverbullit]

I just got hit in the back with a large piece of hail and glass..Put some paper towels on it! LOL

[silverbullit]

He wasnt out of the car..If you will watch you can see a huge piece of hail bust through the back door window in hit him in the back..

[hawlster25]

I wish it was as common as you say. A general guideline is that you'll see a tornado 1 in 10 outings. That means over the course of a summer you'll be lucky to see more than 1. There are days when tornadoes are likely to form, but never do. There are other days that there are tornadoes but you chase the wrong cell, or you get to it too late. And sometimes there are trees and hills that just make it impossible. Uncontrollable ice just busted through their car. Rational no longer applies.

[WhatStef]

LOL I never understand why storm chasers turn into such shrieking drama queens when they see a tornado. I mean, you do this for a living. You see tornados ALL THE TIME. I know that they are amazing and all, but do you seriously act this way every time you're chasing one?

[Mike Kollin]

Drama Queens!!!

[conroetech1]

LoL. They sound like a bunch of Nanny's crying about spilled tea. O ma God, O ma God..... Cover me... (get the fuck back in the car dumbass. LoL.

[conroetech1]

strange how that works huh?