Tim Samaras
Engineer and storm chaser who probed tornadoes for science.
Timothy Michael Samaras was an engineer and storm chaser who studied tornadoes in the field and appeared on the Discovery Channel series *Storm Chasers*. He built and placed instrumented probes directly in the paths of tornadoes to gather scientific measurements, and his research helped improve how early warnings are issued for tornadoes.
Born in Lakewood, Colorado, to Paul T. and Margaret L. Samaras, his father worked as a photographer and model-airplane distributor and had been an Army projectionist during World War II. Tim helped with photography and shop work as a child. He became fascinated with tornadoes at age six after watching *The Wizard of Oz* with his mother. He attended Lasley Elementary and O’Connell Junior High, graduating from Alameda International Junior/Senior High School in 1976. In his twenties, he began chasing storms not for excitement but for scientific reasons.
Samaras was self-taught and never earned a college degree. He became an amateur radio operator at 12, building transmitters from old televisions, and later held an Amateur Extra Class license—the highest U.S. amateur radio class—and was fluent in Morse code. He used amateur radio while chasing and served as a storm spotter. At 16 he worked as a radio technician, and at 17 he was a service shop foreman. Right out of high school, he walked into the University of Denver Research Institute without a résumé and was hired. By age 20 he had a Pentagon security clearance, testing and building weapons systems.
He became a prominent engineer at Applied Research Associates, focusing on blast testing and airline crash investigations. The National Transportation Safety Board recognized his work on the TWA Flight 800 crash. His research included high-speed photography for ballistics. He also worked at National Technical Systems and Hyperion Technology Group. Beyond tornadoes, he studied all aspects of convective storms, especially lightning, using cameras that shot up to 1.4 million frames per second. He was an accomplished photographer and videographer, using photogrammetry and footage from cameras inside probes placed within tornadoes. He also shot for art and pleasure, was an avid amateur astronomer, and had interests in electronics and inventions.
Quick Facts
- Birth Name
- Timothy Michael Samaras
- Birth Date
- 1957-11-12
- Birth Place
- Lakewood, Colorado, U.S.
- Death Date
- 2013-05-31 (aged 55)
- Death Place
- Canadian County, Oklahoma, U.S.
- Death Cause
- Tornado incident
- Fields
- Engineering, meteorology
- Workplaces
- Applied Research Associates
- Known For
- Tornado field research
- Spouse
- Kathy Samaras
- Children
- 4
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
Samaras became interested in tornadoes at age six after watching The Wizard of Oz. He was self-taught and never received a college degree, but became an amateur radio operator at age 12 and later held an Amateur Extra Class license. He built transmitters from old television sets and used amateur radio to communicate while chasing storms. After high school, he was hired at the University of Denver Research Institute and obtained a Pentagon security clearance by age 20, testing and building weapons systems. He later worked at Applied Research Associates, focusing on blast testing and airline crash investigations, and was recognized by the NTSB for his work on the TWA Flight 800 crash. Samaras founded the field research team TWISTEX and designed the Turtle Probe and Tower Probe to gather data inside tornadoes. His probes captured the greatest pressure drop ever measured in a tornado, a Guinness World Record. He also co-founded the National Storm Chasers Convention in 1998 and was named a National Geographic Society Emerging Explorer in 2005. Samaras coauthored the book Tornado Hunter and appeared in National Geographic pieces and the Discovery Channel series Storm Chasers.
Reader's Guide
Samaras' significance lies in his pioneering use of in-situ probes to measure atmospheric pressure and wind inside tornadoes, providing data that had never been collected before. His work directly led to increased warning times ahead of tornadoes, according to the president of the Discovery networks. The pressure drop he recorded—100 hPa in less than one minute—remains a Guinness World Record and is the lowest pressure ever recorded at Earth's surface. Samaras was considered one of the most careful chasers in the business, and his colleagues respected his scientific approach. His death in the 2013 El Reno tornado, along with his son and team member Carl Young, was the first known instance of a storm chaser or meteorologist killed by a tornado. The event prompted widespread discussion of storm-chasing tactics. Samaras' legacy includes the continuation of the National Storm Chasers Convention by his widow, Kathy, and the ongoing analysis of his data by atmospheric scientists.
Did You Know?
- Samaras built transmitters using old television sets as a child.
- He held an Amateur Extra Class license, the highest amateur radio class in the United States.
- His probe captured the largest drop in atmospheric pressure ever recorded in a tornado, 100 hPa in less than one minute.
More in Amateur Radio People, Part 3 1-24
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