TORNADO HUNTERS Media Summary Report Prepared by GAT PR
Interviews Completed Thursday, July 17
Wednesday, August 13 Thursday, August 14 Friday, August 15 Monday, August 18 Thursday, August 21 Thursday, September 18 Wednesday, October 15
Saturday, October 25
CJME -‐ Himpe, Don & Sam Maciag Greg Johnson 680 CJOB – Morning News Greg Johnson Y108 – Brian West Show Greg Johnson Canadian Geographic Online Magazine Greg Johnson Leader Post Paul Kilback Q107 -‐ Derringer In The Morning Greg Johnson CBC Radio: Saskatchewan Weekend Greg Johnson and Chris Chittick Global TV – Morning Live (Regina) Greg Johnson Verb News Ricky Forbes iVilliage Canada (via email) Greg Johnson CBC Saskatchewan Greg Johnson, Chris Chittick and Ricky Forbes Leader Post Greg Johnson, Chris Chittick and Ricky Forbes News Talk 1010 – Ted Woloshyn Show Greg Johnson, Chris Chittick and Ricky Forbes
Saskatchewan Team of Three Ready for Spotlight Reported by Brant Hilton First Posted: Oct 15, 2014 http://ckom.com/story/saskatchewan-‐team-‐three-‐ready-‐spotlight/426189
Tornado Hunters featuring Greg Johnson makes its makes its debut on October 26 It is unlikely they are going to become the next big thing in Hollywood but there is a lot to be excited about for one team of three from Saskatchewan. A show featuring Greg Johnson, Chris Chittick, and Ricky Forbes debuts next week, providing the viewer with an inside look at what Tornado Hunters face on a daily basis. "It's not a half hour of just adrenaline, adrenaline, adrenaline," said Johnson. "What they're (the
audience) going to get is a little bit of humour." Johnson admitted he was surprised at just how much footage was needed for the show. "We probably shot, and I'm not even exaggerating, probably 100 to 200 minutes of footage for every 30 seconds or minute of actual TV time." Johnson calls this experience the thrill of a lifetime. The show is guaranteed at least two episodes, and depending on how successful it is, a full season could be announced soon. Fans of Johnson and his team got a sneak peak at the two episodes on Wednesday at the Science Centre. Tornado Hunters debuts on Oct. 26 at 8 p.m. Saskatchewan time on CMT.
Regina storm chaser lands TV show Deborah Shawcross http://cjme.com/story/regina-‐storm-‐chaser-‐lands-‐tv-‐show/394420
"Tornado Hunters" debuts on CMT this fall It's been over a year in the making, and now a Regina storm chaser and his team are coming to a television near you. Greg Johnson, along with Ricky Forbes and Chris Chittick are the stars of the new show "Tornado Hunters" which will debut on CMT this fall. Johnson has been chasing storms for over a decade, and said even now it's still scary to watch tornados rip through small towns and farms. "You don't know -‐ maybe you just watched somebody lose their life. Maybe somebody has lost their home," he said. "These are terrifying moments -‐ that'll never get old." He explained bad weather makes people pay attention. "Everyone has that anecdote," said Johnson. "Back in the day at the farmyard, this thing happened, that thing happened. Everyone has that story -‐ I think that connects us all with the weather." If chasing down severe thunderstorms and tornados sounds fun to you, Johnson said you should learn as much as possible before hitting the road. "Without that knowledge, of course you're never going to get close to that storm," he said. "And you're certainly not going to do it in a safe way." When they do go hunting for storms, the Tornado Hunters ride in a modified pickup truck nicknamed "Flash." Traveling over 190,000 kilometers, it has taken a beating or two. The weather has managed to destroy eight windshields so far. If a tornado touches down Johnson and his crew say you should get underground, and not hide under a highway overpass. You can let the tornado hunters know about weather in your area by using the hashtag #CMTTornadoHunters on Twitter and Instagram.
Thrill of the job hinges on photography Ashley Martin http://www.leaderpost.com/news/Thrill+hinges+photography/10153488/story.html It sounds like something out of a movie. Last May, Greg Johnson was in El Reno, Okla., and found himself inside a 4.2-‐kilometre-‐wide tornado. A truck flew by. A barn exploded. Three people he knew were killed in the storm. “The fact that we survived, yeah it’s exhilarating, but at the moment it was absolutely terrifying,” said Johnson. But it sure beats wedding photography. “Horrible,” is how Johnson describes his introduction to professional picture-‐taking — shooting “babies, weddings, pickles, french fries.” He was a hobby shooter for years, working on the yearbook during high school in Ottawa and for the school newspaper while attending Acadia University in Nova Scotia. But Johnson went pro in 2000 when digital technology made his craft much more accessible. He launched Greg Johnson Photography, which in 2005 morphed into Regina ad agency Look Matters. But after shooting some 200 weddings, among other things, he opted for more exciting subject matter. He’d been fascinated by extreme weather ever since a lightning-‐heavy storm between Regina and Carlyle had left him in a ditch. He learned later that a tornado had passed through. That’s when he became interested in shooting storms. “It has to do with the camera and the thrill of getting that picture; that never gets old. We’ve got some shots frankly that I would put up with the best weather shots in the world. To capture that, there’s nothing like it.” Johnson took his first “storm-‐chase vacation” in 2009. In 2010, he sold his stake in Look Matters to try to become a full-‐time storm chaser. Now branded as the “tornado hunter,” Johnson makes his living chasing tornadoes. The buzz surrounding his new profession has resulted in an international book tour (for Blown Away, published in 2012), a reality TV show (Tornado Hunters, airing this fall on CMT), and his proudest achievement: getting his name on the National Speakers Bureau, listed among people like Romeo Dallaire, Marc Garneau, Chris Hadfield and Silken Laumann. “All these incredible, iconic Canadian people, and there’s my name in the mix with them,” said Johnson. “That’s a pretty cool feeling to know that you’re in that sort of elite company.”
In spite of his current lot, Johnson did not grow up as a weather enthusiast, or even as a shutterbug. “I grew up in a hockey rink.” He says he was terrible at hockey but loved the game. He spent his free time refereeing through high school and university, where he studied political science. His career plan was to go into politics. It was a brief plan. A stint as a political staffer on Parliament Hill showed him, “it wasn’t what I had imagined it to be and frankly didn’t last very long, and I’ve never looked back.” Johnson returned to reffing, which eventually led to a job in the Western Hockey League. That’s how he made his way to Saskatchewan, moving first to Saskatoon in 1995, then Regina in 1996. He worked a variety of other jobs to supplement his income before taking the plunge into photography. Seeking adventure through tornado-‐hunting may have been hereditary. Johnson’s parents, Doug and Pat, are adventurers too. Their latest trip was to Istanbul. They’ve explored volcanoes. They recently spent six weeks in China. But while Johnson’s job means taking risks, he is not rash. He quotes his hero Rick Hansen: “There’s a difference between taking risks and being reckless.” “We always have an escape route, our navigation’s important, safety’s important, but that’s all so we can take those risks that are going to allow us to get the best images we can possibly get,” said Johnson. “We” is his tornado-‐hunting team of Ricky Forbes and Chris Chittick. “We run eight to 10 different radars and forecasting devices in our truck while we’re chasing and all these are good within a few square kilometres,” said Forbes, who grew up in Saskatoon and now lives in Canmore. “We can tell where the circulation is, where the rotation is, where we would expect to see the storm, and then we get up there and also judge with our eyes and where we see it. So we negate the risk that way.” Three American storm chasers, friends of Johnson’s, were killed last May 31 in El Reno, by the widest tornado ever recorded. While it gave him pause, he sees their situation as contrary to his own. “(They) made some tragic mistakes. They ran out of money so they were chasing in a car instead of their chase truck,” said Johnson. “We’re driving a bulletproof fortified truck with rollover protection and all the safety gear imaginable. We have to trust the ability of that truck to keep us safe, and when they come across massive storms like that, “it definitely does make you question (the risk), but at the same time we’re out there reporting on those,” said Forbes. “We always call in the storms as we see them, and so we like to think that we help mitigate the risk for others, because they’ll sound their tornado sirens in their communities.” When it comes down to it, for Johnson, tornado hunting is all about getting shots of events that are seen by so few people. “Our goal is always to capture the world’s most extreme imagery. That’s our motto,” said Johnson. “Seeing Mother Nature at a furious (state), nobody else gets to see that,” said Forbes. “That’s the fuel behind the chase is going after that. I know one of Greg’s major drives is getting that photo that nobody else has.”
Forbes says storm chasing requires a lot of passion, which Johnson has. “We only see a tornado about one per cent of the time and the other 99 per cent is all about getting in position, trying to find that storm, driving thousands of kilometres. Lots of times it just doesn’t play out, but that’s the beauty of storm chasing. There’s only a few (people) that are willing to put it all on the line and keep going, keep going, until they get that moment, and it’s definitely part of his character.” Through pursuing a passion as a career, Johnson wanted to show his children — Olivia (13), Cooper (11) and Gabby (7) — that they should chase their dreams. “I hate that ‘follow your dreams’ line, but I definitely want them to understand that I do what I do because I love it and I’m passionate about it.” He wants to show them they don’t have to conform to trends. “That whole idea of being just like everybody else is never ever the ticket to success, ever,” said Johnson. “Only unreasonable people change the world.” It may be a small change, but he points to the Barenaked Ladies, a band that gained mainstream success in spite of people protesting its controversial name. “I’m sure when they put out their name being the Barenaked Ladies, there’s a lot of people (who) said, ‘Oh, you can’t do that, you’re going to get roasted, people are going to hate you,’” said Johnson, who says he had a similar experience making his career shift. “When I told people I was going to be a storm chaser, people laughed, I mean literally laughed,” said Johnson. But now, “people have a much higher awareness about severe weather … and I’d like to think that in some small way that I contributed to that and that’s made a difference. And that’s the message for my kids. “I want them to be those game-‐changers and not just lemmings and doing everything like everyone else. And our show reflects that, actually.” Tornado Hunters, which premieres on TV on Oct. 8 (with webisodes currently online), was a product of being a little out there, says Johnson. “None of that would have happened if we’d sort of played it safe and done what every other severe weather expert online had been doing,” he said. “In fact in many cases, the severe weather crowd, whether they’re meteorologists or other storm chasers around North America, they kind of belittle us. We’re just goofballs, we’re idiots. Nobody says that to my face, of course. “But at the end of the day it’s driven some wild success and I’m super proud of it. So they can laugh all they want. They’re working their middle-‐management jobs and I think probably wishing they were us.” Johnson started storm-‐chasing in a Nissan Xterra, by himself. As the demands of his job grew, so did his team. “It’s hard to take pictures, navigate, drive, Twitter and Facebook, and communicate with Environment Canada, and do radio interviews and all these things at the same time,” said Johnson. “So more manpower was needed.” Forbes has worked with Johnson for the past three seasons. “I was only going to come out a few times. But then I saw my first tornado and I was, like, addicted; ‘I want to make this work,’” said Forbes. Chittick came on in spring 2013, having previously met Johnson while storm chasing as part of Discovery’s Storm Chasers.
He’s like the Bill Paxton character in Twister, switching teams. Speaking of the 1996 Hollywood blockbuster, real-‐life storm chasing is “exactly like Twister,” said Forbes. “You’ve got three or four other teams that we compete with and … you’re all kind of friends, because you’re the only ones out there battling that, but at the same time you’re all trying to fight for that shot and fight for that paycheque, so it gets pretty interesting,” he added. “There’ll be heated arguments on the side of the highway in the middle of nowhere. There’s definitely a sense of competition, especially over social media and stuff, because that’s where everybody does their own marketing … so lines will be crossed and words will be exchanged. It’s really funny, actually.” Johnson’s team logs 100,000 kilometres in a matter of months. During more than 1,000 hours in company each season, Johnson says it’s rarely a matter of getting on each other’s nerves. “Overall, we actually enjoy being on the road.” “We’re spending that much time together; you really get to know a person,” added Forbes. “It’s like a best friend; it’s almost like a sibling relationship when you’re around somebody that much. … It has its ups and downs but it’s a lot of fun.” From mid-‐April to the end of July, Johnson estimates they spend 60 days chasing. It’s not always a comfortable lifestyle. “Some nights we end up sleeping in the truck,” said Johnson. “Sometimes we need to grind 2,000 km in 24 hours and so sleep is at a premium, and lots of times you’re sleeping in the back seat while somebody’s driving up front.” It’s not always the healthiest either. Johnson admits he put on 15 pounds this season. Mexican food is his vice, he says, because you can’t get it in Regina. Four months on the road does not equate to eight months of vacation. “Chasing is seasonal because of the weather, but the business of running tornadohunter.com is full year-‐round. I make all of my money off of this from September to March,” said Johnson. He does speaking gigs and camera workshops. And now he stars in a TV show. Tornado Hunters resulted as Toronto-‐based Saloon Media wanted to produce a weather show. Director/producer Paul Kilback and his partner stumbled upon Johnson’s website, where the team had posted goofy videos of themselves, in addition to storm-‐chase footage. “Obviously they chase tornadoes, and we thought ‘well that can’t be bad TV,’” said Kilback. Last August, he came to Regina to meet the local storm-‐chasers. By the time he left, there was a TV deal. Their authenticity is the appeal of these characters, says Kilback. “When you see what they’re doing, it’s not contrived, it’s not put on, it’s not scripted, it’s not a reality producer setting up scenarios. They’re instantly likable. The first thing you get is, ‘I want to hang out with these guys; I want to go on a road trip with these guys,’” said Kilback, who confirmed that, after many road trips making the show, his instinct was right. “We had 10 weeks of camera in your face, just like you’d expect from any reality TV show,” said Johnson. “At first it was a little odd, but by the end of it we were so used to it that we were almost helping the producer out.” “It’s so awesome getting to tell other people the story of what we’re doing. It’s been really cool,” said Forbes.
Kilback is sure people will love the show, for a few reasons. “At the basis, you’ve got a very thrilling kind of activity. You’re chasing storms, you’re seeing things that people don’t get to see. You’re seeing that danger and adventure that goes with it. But more so you get to see three guys who are incredibly genuine in their relationship and how that works, they’re hilarious, they’re funny, and I think people will identify with that,” he said. “I think that by the end of it, you watch the stuff and you love those guys.” Johnson hopes the show will open doors for him. He’d like it if Tornado Hunters ran over several seasons. In his dreams, he’d one day host a Daily Planet-‐type show. “For me there’s nothing that’s off the table. I certainly don’t live and breathe having to be a storm chaser,” said Johnson. “If other amazing opportunities show up in my life, then that’s great. I don’t have a crystal ball; I can’t tell the future.” It’s hard to see this Tornado Hunter gig ending any time soon. People are fascinated by the weather, said Johnson. “Even news directors at TV stations will tell you that when they broadcast interesting weather stories, ratings go up,” he said. That’s exactly why a photo by Saskatoon photographer Colleen Niska went viral last month, as a tornado photobombed the newlywed couple she was shooting near Davidson. “Obviously, there’s something to be said for luck and being in the right place at the right time, and she did a great job, but that’s a perfect example,” said Johnson. “She’s probably taken thousands and thousands and thousands of wedding photos that frankly no one’s ever going to see. But she gets this one photo, or one series of photos, that everybody in the world wants to see, because of a goofy cloud in the background.” While Niska’s photo, which was shared 18,000 times through Facebook, garnered her lots of new fans, it’s likely Johnson’s star will continue to rise with his new TV show. He’s already got more than 50,000 likes on Facebook. “I’d be lying if I said that it’s not really cool to have people that are literally fans,” he said. Johnson was recently recognized while out for dinner with friends, and he’s been approached at Costco by people who want to talk tornadoes. But as far as fame goes, he says he’s in a good position. “I’m not Matt Damon walking down the street, or Ryan Reynolds. There’s certain people that have zero anonymity and I’m fortunate that I’m kind of almost in a sweet spot where it’s enough to be interesting and fun, but it’s not enough that I can’t go to the grocery store.”
REPOST
http://www2.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/news/story.html?id=8a015f4c-‐50fd-‐457c-‐ 9584-‐79651e8cccd7&p=5 http://epaper.calgaryherald.com/epaper/viewer.aspx
Saskatchewan tornado hunter: 'Twister' and 'Into the Storm' accurate – except for flying cows SEAN FITZGERALD Aug. 18,2014 http://www.torontosun.com/2014/08/18/saskatchewan-‐tornado-‐hunter-‐twister-‐and-‐into-‐the-‐ storm-‐accurate-‐-‐except-‐for-‐flying-‐cows
Canadian, who gave up his job to chase storms, calls gig 'poop-‐your-‐pants scary' Remember the movie Twister? Well, it got everything right, according to Canadian storm chaser Greg Johnson. Except for the flying cows. "When people talk about storm chasing, there's this fantasy notion of what that looks and feels like," says Johnson, over the phone from Regina. "And that fantasy grows out of movies like Twister and Into the Storm. And the reality is that those movies got it so right. And people aren't expecting that answer when I tell them." Johnson, 44, has been documenting bad weather for a decade, something he fell in love with when he moved from Ontario to the Prairies and discovered the region's epic storms. After spending his weekends taking pictures of severe weather, he decided to sell his advertising business four years ago and leave his desk job to follow his passion. This decision came with some lifestyle changes, resulting in a divorce and forcing Johnson to learn how to monetize his hobby. Aside from selling his footage, he's found a way to make money by offering photography workshops and speaking to organizations across the country. He also wants to educate Canadians about storm safety, so he speaks to over 200 schools a year. This brings us back to the cows. "At every school talk I do, during every question-‐and-‐answer session somebody asks, 'Have you ever seen a cow flying through the air?' The truth of the matter is, I have literally thousands of
pictures of tornados with debris flying around all over the place, and I have scanned through every one of those photos at highest-‐possible resolution to see if I can see a flying cow — and I have never captured that on film."
used to shape the pilot for the actual TV channel this fall.
This week, you can watch Johnson and his team in Tornado Hunters on CMT.ca, where the country music lifestyle channel is debuting its first-‐ever web series. Interestingly, CMT will be monitoring fan engagement on social media — where viewers can leave feedback with the hashtag #CMTTornadoHunters — which will then be
Johnson and his crew — which includes veteran U.S. storm chaser Chris Chittick and extreme sports fanatic Ricky Forbes — have seen some pretty scary stuff while driving their battle-‐ready pick-‐up truck, Flash. In May 2013, they encountered the largest tornado ever recorded, a four-‐ kilometre-‐wide beast in El Reno, Okla. "We literally had the moment where we're driving through a ditch, the farmyard beside us is blowing up, stuff's hitting the truck, and we end up in the air, probably four or five feet," Johnson recalls. "Then we land back down in the ditch, and in front of us, a two-‐tonne farm truck is helicoptering through the sky." He says that the farm truck landed in the ditch in front of them, forcing Forbes to take a sharp turn to lift them into the air and out of the truck's way before landing back on the road. "It's two to three days of straight adrenaline before you come down from that high," Johnson says. "And it's damn exciting, I won't lie." And while they've faced other hair-‐raising situations since their El Reno experience — such as manoeuvring around twin tornados in Nebraska this past June — that was the only time their truck went airborne. "I'm not gonna lie, I was f-‐-‐-‐ing terrified," Johnson admits. "It's poop-‐your-‐pants scary, it really is."
One of the toughest elements of storm chasing, he says, is the emotional impact of watching other people lose their lives in storms — something they've seen many times. "People have been killed, whether it's their truck flying through the air, whether it's watching a town go up into the air or whether it's watching a house explode," he says. "It happens on an alarmingly regular basis. And so, I've rarely been afraid for my own life, but to watch those things happen, it's always terrifying. It is straight-‐up terrifying." The Tornado Hunters are considered first responders by broadcast meteorologists, and audiences around the world tune into their newsfeeds and live web streams for real-‐time updates on extreme weather situations. Despite the chilling things that Johnson has seen — he also describes watching houses cycling around in a tornado, Wizard of Oz-‐style — he says that Tornado Hunters also contains some humorous elements, christening it "the Kenny vs. Spenny of storm chasing." His trademark hockey helmet and nerdy blast-‐proof goggles add a bit of goofiness to the adventure. And while Johnson commends Twister and Into the Storm for being accurate, he can't say the same about Sharknado. He saw the cult disaster film a few weeks ago for the first time on Netflix. "We got through about seven minutes of it and we were like, this is the worst," he says with a laugh. "It was so ridiculous."
REPOSTS:
http://jam.canoe.ca/Television/2014/08/18/21881396.html
http://www.wellandtribune.ca/2014/08/18/saskatchewan-‐tornado-‐hunter-‐twister-‐and-‐into-‐ the-‐storm-‐accurate-‐-‐except-‐for-‐flying-‐cows
The Tornado Hunters Blow Into Studio 9 http://www.cbc.ca/saskweekend/2014/08/17/the-‐tornado-‐hunters-‐blow-‐into-‐studio-‐9/
Saskatchewan's extreme weather chasers -‐Greg Johnson and Chris Chittick -‐ are featured in the new CMT web series "Tornado Hunters". They blew into Studio 9 to talk with Dan on Saskatchewan Weekend about their series and why they do what they do.
New series features storm chasers tracking Canada's terrible tornadoes Siobhan McClelland 08.14.2014 http://www.canadiangeographic.ca/blog/posting.asp?ID=1267
Most people run away at the first sign of a tornado. But the three stars of CMT’s new series rush full throttle towards the twister, trying to get the best footage. Tornado Hunters features storm chasers Greg Johnson, Chris Chittick and Ricky Forbes as they pursue tornadoes across Canada and the United States. The three humourous hunters track down some of the worst storms to hit North America in their orange Ford F-‐150 truck Flash, taking photos and video as they go. “We put our vehicle and ourselves safely into the position to get images that other people simply can’t get,” says Johnson, the chaser known for wearing nerd goggles and a hockey helmet.
Johnson’s fascination with storms began when he moved from Ontario to Saskatchewan in 1995. “When I first witnessed a storm out here, it was really something I never experienced before as a photographer,” he says. “I really fell in love with the prairies, the landscapes, the skies." He decided to sell his successful business and leave his desk job for a career chasing storms. “In Canada, there are probably millions of people who take pictures of storms and landscapes, but nobody was focusing on severe weather and tornadoes,” he says. “Literally, no one else was doing it or covering it.” While filming the series this past year, Johnson witnessed the most memorable storm he’s ever seen. On June 16, the chasers were in Nebraska when they saw twin wedge tornadoes, which are wider than they are tall. The storm hunters were between the two, photographing them at close range. “Only a handful of people have seen that before,” Johnson says. The series kicks off on Aug. 18 with five webisodes on the show website, leading up to the broadcast pilot this fall on CMT. In addition to following tornadoes, the web series looks at the storm chasers’ family and financial situations, what they do during their downtime and how they train to respond when they're the first on the scene after a tornado. Johnson is hoping viewers will watch the webisodes and connect with the chasers and CMT on social media. The show’s creators will then use fan feedback to shape the TV pilot. Viewers can share their comments on the series using the hashtag #CMTTornadoHunters and going on Twitter (@CMTCanada), Facebook (Facebook.com/CMTCanada) and Instagram (@CMT_Canada).
For a sneak peek of the series, watch the Tornado Hunters trailer below.
Canada’s Tornado Hunters Will Take You by Storm Joshua Rapp Learn 08.12.2014 http://www.ichill.ca/articles/canada-‐s-‐tornado-‐hunters-‐will-‐take-‐you-‐by-‐storm
The new show Tornado Hunters chronicles the lives of three men devoted to chasing the biggest tornadoes in North America. The following is a harrowing account of one of their treacherous exploits. It was May 31, 2013 and Greg Johnson was about a dozen kilometres outside of El Reno, Oklahoma on the trail of what turned out to be the widest tornado ever recorded on the planet. Ricky Forbes, an extreme sport enthusiast with “a daredevil attitude” was blasting their bullet-‐ proof Ford F-‐150 pickup equipped with what Johnson calls “all the safety gear you could possibly imagine” down a grid road dissecting two farms. Chris Chittick was navigating the network of roads that the twister showed a blatant disregard for. And Johnson was doing what he does best—operating the camera to get the shots they needed to beat the competition and provide funding to keep on top of the satellite service subscriptions, hotel bills bankroll the gas that kept them tearing across the continent in pursuit of tornados.
Unknown to the team around that time, the twister had thrown a car with three of their storm chaser friends working on a National Geographic project about a mile through the air. None of them survived. But about a mile away, debris was flying through the air when suddenly a barn to Johnson’s right blew “into a million pieces.” The tornado, which eventually grew to the width of 4.2 kilometres, engulfed their truck. In front of them, a farm truck came spinning through the air like a helicopter propeller and landed in the ditch they were driving in. “Of course you can imagine inside the truck, we’re freaking out,” Johnson said. But Forbes tears the wheel to the right and they missed the truck by less than half a metre. Obstacles aside, they made their way back to the road and took off in the opposite direction. “We did have a brief moment where our truck was in the air,” Johnson said. “People ask me all the time, ‘Is it like the movie Twister, did they get it right in the movie?’” “I can honestly say that Hollywood got it absolutely right. In fact, they may have underdone how intense it is.”
But despite it being the largest tornado ever recorded, Johnson says it wasn’t his perfect storm chasing moment because they had to pull out early. “Our chase was done,” he said. Their truck had been hammered by debris and was more or less destroyed. “My imagery that I caught from that day was basically limited. The tornado continued for another hour and we didn’t get to chase it.” It was only later that the crew heard of their friends Tim Samaras, his son Paul and Carl Young. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the U.S. reported eight deaths in total in the twister and dozens injured. “It was pretty tragic, a lot of people lost their lives in El Reno,” Johnson said. But the crew hit their real perfect moment this year in Nebraska. “You never really think it’s actually going to happen then you literally have it,” Johnson said. It was June 16 and the team was coming right up in between twin wedge tornadoes—defined as twisters that are wider than they are tall. “We were almost nestled in between them. It was absolutely the moment of a lifetime.” The tornadoes were “extremely powerful” EF4s, defined as having wind speeds of 267-‐321 kilometres per hour, and the truck was rattling to the point that they were worried it would get flipped onto the roll bar.
“There is a fear factor, I’m not going to lie. If I was to say that we never have those terrifying moments and we’re never scared, it would be a load of crap,” he said. “I think that’s part of the adrenaline factor. We’re putting ourselves in a situation that’s really ridiculous actually.”’ But the moment was perfect due to the camera angles and the shots they were able to get based on their placement. “Having a team allows me to be able to focus on the photography,” Johnson said. Between Forbes’ driving and Chittick’s navigating (he also gets the video footage), they managed to keep safety to a somewhat respectable level. “I’ve got three kids—I want to get home. I don’t want to ever be on the cover of Reader’s Digest.” But he acknowledges that safety is a difficult thing to manage sometime. “When we talk about safety it’s at a different viewpoint as most people’s idea of safety." The teamwork is also what helps them keep their operation rolling. When they are out chasing storms, they upload live footage on their website Tornadohunter.com which is often followed by storm enthusiast and even weather agencies in Canada and the U.S. But once they’ve captured good shots, they still have to move quickly. There is only a 15 minute window for their media broker to sell the image – after that someone else will have beat them to it. “Really first to market wins the race all the time,” he said. “It may not be high quality, it may not be as interesting, but it’s the first to market. That’s always our goal.” And it’s been four years in the coming. One of Johnson’s first jobs was being a political staffer on Parliament Hill back in the Brian Mulroney days—a place he said spins his head more than a tornado. “I can’t stand that place.” Then he spent 15 years as a professional photographer taking photos of babies, marriages and French fries in a business he owned. He had the opportunity to sell it and turned his weekend
hobby of storm chasing into a full-‐ time endeavor. Reflecting on his current choice of lifestyle, he has several good reasons for not getting into storm chasing. “The big one is that you’re driving into the strongest force of nature on the planet and people do die,” he said. “There is a bit of a risk factor there.” But then again, the risk factor is also one of the reasons Johnson got into the lifestyle. “You talk about the adrenaline rush—there’s no bigger adrenaline rush on planet Earth than driving up beside a half-‐mile-‐wide wedge tornado on the ground, with things flying up in the air,” he said. “Very, very few people on the planet get a chance to see and survive to tell about it.”
Check out scenes from the upcoming show in webisodes at cmt.ca/show/tornado-‐ hunters/ starting on Aug. 18. The producers will use Twitter feedback from viewers used with hashtag #cmtornadohunters to drive the narrative of the actual shows, which will broadcast starting in early October (Oct. 8).
Tornado Hunters Pilot to air on CMT
Julianna Cummins http://playbackonline.ca/2014/06/06/tornado-‐hunters-‐pilot-‐to-‐air-‐on-‐cmt/ The pilot of Saloon Media‘s Tornado Hunters is set to premiere on Corus Entertainment’s CMT this fall, following support the project received from the Bell Fund’s TV development online program. Through the Bell Fund financing, Saloon Media also shot webisodes and trailers that can be posted online to gauge audience reaction to the series and its subjects before the pilot goes to air, said Paul Kilback, producer and director with Tornado Hunters and Saloon Media. The show has not yet been ordered to series, but a decision to greenlight a season of the show will be based on audience feedback on the aired pilot and the online content, said Kilback, noting that this is the first time he has produced a show in such a way. “It’s a brave new world for all of us,” Kilback told Playback Daily. It has not yet been decided where the online content and webisodes will be featured ahead of Tornado Hunters pilot airing on CMT. The hour-‐long pilot episode of Tornado Hunters follows the stories of the three men who make up the Regina-‐based storm chasing company Tornado Hunters. The unpredictable nature of storms made for a challenging shoot, Kilback said, with the crew following the tornado hunter team throughout the Canadian prairies all the way down to Texas. In addition, this storm season proved to be particularly weak. “The challenge for us is, we’re going out there and waiting for things to happen. We’ve been under some great storms, but just never have turned into any real tornadoes yet,” Kilback said. Tornado Hunters received financing from the Bell Fund and licensing fees from CMT. Michael Kott is executive producer on the series, and Betty Orr serves as head of production.
Saskatchewan Tornado Hunters Featured in Web Series Thomas Piller
July 15, 2014 http://globalnews.ca/news/1453087/saskatchewan-‐tornado-‐hunters-‐featured-‐in-‐web-‐series/
TORONTO – A team of Saskatchewan’s own extreme weather chasers are being featured in a new web series titled Tornado Hunters. CMT.ca is launching its first-‐ever online series on Aug. 18. Using sophisticated technology, the experts travel thousands of kilometres across Canada and the United States risking their lives to capture footage of breathtaking weather phenomena. Regina’s Greg Johnson is the public face of Tornado Hunters and has become one of North
America’s top professional storm chasers and photographers. With over a decade of experience, Johnson has an appetite for hunting down thunderstorms and twisters. Teammate Chris Chittick starred in the Discovery Chanel’s Storm Chasers and has 15 years of extreme weather experience. He is originally from Greenville, Michigan but moved to Saskatchewan to be with his Canadian girlfriend. Saskatchewan product Ricky Forbes takes the driver’s seat in their “indestructible” storm-‐ chasing truck, navigating fearlessly through each endeavor. This adrenaline junkie went graduated from the University of Saskatchewan and currently makes his home in Alberta. Online viewers can witness a first-‐hand look at the trials and errors that come with pursuing Mother Nature’s most destructive forces.
The five web-‐based episodes will prepare for the official broadcast pilot set to air on CMT Canada at a later date.
Canada’s CMT tests “Tornado Hunters” online Val Maloney 07.17.2014 http://realscreen.com/2014/07/17/canadas-‐cmt-‐tests-‐tornado-‐hunters-‐online/
Corus Entertainment-‐owned Canadian net CMT is launching its first original web series, Tornado Hunters (pictured), and using the five episodes as a testing ground for an eventual TV broadcast debut of the show. Tornado Hunters follows extreme weather chasers Greg Johnson, Chris Chittick and Ricky Forbes risking their lives to tackle the biggest tornadoes across North America in their pick-‐up truck Flash.
The show will launch its five episodes online on August 18, with prompts from CMT asking fans to provide input around the show through #CMTTornadohunters. Responses will be used to shape the show’s pilot for broadcast, which will air at a later date. Vibika Bianchi, VP of original programming for women’s and family TV at Corus Entertainment, said that the show is part of a shift in direction for programming on the channel, looking towards more high-‐ energy, dramatic and high-‐stake shows than it has previously commissioned. That is all part of research the company has done to better reach CMT’s target audience of adults 25-‐54, focusing in on suburban women, contrasting Corus Entertainment’s W Network’s focus on urban dwellers. Bianchi said posting the online episodes first allows the channel to test how the new content will work with CMT’s audience, before the debut of the show on TV. She added the online episodes, which will all be available at once, were also made possible with help from the Bell Fund.
REPOSTS:
http://streamdaily.tv/2014/07/17/this-‐is-‐not-‐a-‐drill-‐tornado-‐hunters-‐web-‐series-‐part-‐of-‐cmts-‐ experiment/
http://mediaincanada.com/2014/07/16/cmt-‐tests-‐channels-‐new-‐direction-‐online/
Tornado Hunters' to air on CMT web, then TV Canadian Press http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-‐and-‐life/entertainment/TV/tornado-‐hunters-‐to-‐ debut-‐on-‐cmt-‐canada-‐web-‐then-‐tv-‐fans-‐to-‐shape-‐pilot-‐268008211.html REGINA – A Saskatchewan storm chaser and his team are getting their own TV show. “Tornado Hunters” starring Greg Johnson, Chris Chittick and Ricky Forbes is to debut first on the web, then on TV. Produced by Saloon Media and developed with the participation of the Bell Fund, five episodes for the web will be the launching pad for the official broadcast pilot set to air on CMT at a later date. The web episodes start Aug. 18, and at the same time CMT.ca will host an interactive campaign to provide input, which will be used to shape the pilot. Johnson, who is from Saskatchewan, says there are “terrifying” moments when a tornado is on the ground. He says although he’s done it for many, many years, it never gets boring. “You don’t know, maybe you just watched somebody lose their life, maybe somebody’s lost their home,” Johnson says. “These are terrifying moments and that will never get old.” Chittick, who is American, starred in the series “Storm Chasers” and has 15 years and more than 400 tornadoes on his resume. He is the videographer and chief interpreter of tracking storm data. Forbes, who is also from Saskatchewan, is responsible for the team’s online presence.
REPOSTS:
http://metronews.ca/scene/1103678/tornado-‐hunters-‐to-‐air-‐on-‐cmt-‐web-‐then-‐tv/
http://www.cjad.com/EntertainmentCP/Article.aspx?id=429504
http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/entertainment/television/tornado-‐hunters-‐to-‐debut-‐on-‐ cmt-‐canada-‐web-‐then-‐tv-‐fans-‐to-‐shape-‐pilot-‐1.1254440
http://pressgrab.com/CAN/ottawa/?p=334465#DZpD1Bj3vRjUvOMs.99 (Brandon Sun)
http://bit.ly/1pbaK8e (MySask.com)
http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca/prairies/bc/article_7881e92c-‐6de8-‐57f6-‐b38a-‐ f6a8ea7435ee.html
http://www.cambridgetimes.ca/whatson-‐story/4643653-‐-‐tornado-‐hunters-‐to-‐air-‐on-‐cmt-‐web-‐ then-‐tv/
https://ca.celebrity.yahoo.com/news/tornado-‐hunters-‐debut-‐cmt-‐canada-‐then-‐tv-‐fans-‐ 222057823.html
http://www.courierislander.com/entertainment/tornado-‐hunters-‐to-‐debut-‐on-‐cmt-‐canada-‐ web-‐then-‐tv-‐fans-‐to-‐shape-‐pilot-‐1.1254440
http://www.nanaimodailynews.com/entertainment/tornado-‐hunters-‐to-‐debut-‐on-‐cmt-‐canada-‐ web-‐then-‐tv-‐fans-‐to-‐shape-‐pilot-‐1.1254440
http://www.insidebrockville.com/whatson-‐story/4643653-‐-‐tornado-‐hunters-‐to-‐air-‐on-‐cmt-‐ web-‐then-‐tv/
http://www.insidehalton.com/whatson-‐story/4643653-‐-‐tornado-‐hunters-‐to-‐air-‐on-‐cmt-‐web-‐ then-‐tv/
http://www.mykawartha.com/whatson-‐story/4643653-‐-‐tornado-‐hunters-‐to-‐air-‐on-‐cmt-‐web-‐ then-‐tv/
Local Storm Chase gets own Show http://www.mjtimes.sk.ca/News/Local/2014-‐07-‐24/article-‐3812546/Local-‐storm-‐chaser-‐gets-‐ own-‐show/1
Sorting through rubble in what used to be the town of Vilona, Ark., tornado chaser Greg Johnson was looking for bodies with his team. Last spring, during the night, a tornado ripped through Arkansas town of Vilona and flattened houses and businesses, destroying lives. Johnson, along with Ricky Forbes and Chris Chittick, were the first responders to the scene. They were nearby chasing the same storm that ended up killing multiple people. “We were the first ones on the scene and the only ones there to help — in the beginning anyways. We did search and rescue all night. That was probably the worst thing I’ve ever seen,” said Johnson.
“But I’ve seen that similar scene so many different places, it’s hard to say which one was worse than the other.” On May 13, 2013, Johnson and his team were trapped in the middle of the El Reno tornado while filming a scene for the pilot of their upcoming television showTornado Hunters, airing on CMT this fall. It ended up being the largest tornado ever recorded at 2.6 miles wide. Stuck in the storm, debris was flying around their truck. A barn ended up blowing up near them with pieces hitting their vehicle and piling over top of them. “It was the most terrifying thing ever,” said Johnson. “Unfortunately we got stuck in that, but we survived it. Some of our friends weren’t quite so lucky and some of them got killed in that tornado.” This type of destruction is what scares Johnson the most “I get scared all the time. Not necessarily for my own personal safety, but whenever I see a small town getting destroyed or a farmyard going up in the air, you get very worried about what’s actually happening. Did somebody lose their home or their life? And we see a lot of that.” For Tornado Hunters, Johnson and his team travelled through Saskatchewan, Texas, Nebraska, Iowa and Mexico to chase perfect storms. “This is pretty much the best job in the world,” he said. Johnson wasn’t always a storm chaser. He started off as a photographer and fell in love with prairie thunderstorms. In the summertime during his time off he would take photos of storms just for fun. Four years ago he had the opportunity to sell his business and pursue storms full time. Then a few years ago he met Forbes. They hit it off and he became the driver for the team. Chittick is from Michigan and has been chasing storms for 15 years. He used to appear on the show Storm Chasers on Discovery Channel, which is how he and Johnson met. All three have been friends for a while, so it was a natural move to team up. Last week they finished wrapping up filming on their show. They spent 10 straight weeks focusing on the weather. Now that they’re finished, their time off is not spent any differently. Today Johnson and his team are headed to chase the storms that will be sweeping through Southern Saskatchewan.
Right before he headed out, he told the Times-‐Herald he lives for this kind of danger. “You never know what’s going to happen. That is a type of day I live for,” said Johnson. For the past four days, he was working non-‐stop following the forecast here in the province. He looks at different weather models and tries to map out what location has the most likelihood of a tornado. Throughout the days he continues to monitor his radar, and when he sees a storm they fire up their vehicle and head toward its direction. “We literally drive as fast as we can to get there. The number one fear in people is public speaking and number three is tornados. And that’s what I do for a living. I’m a public speaker and I chase tornados. I’m living the dream,” Johnson said. For more information on Johnson, his team, or their upcoming show Tornado Hunters, head to www.tornadohunter.com Mickey Djuric can be reached at 306-‐691-‐1263 or @Mickey_MJTimes. Storm Safety Storm chaser, Greg Johnson of Regina, assures people storms are nothing to be afraid of. “Like anything else, it’s all about education. Pay attention to warnings and watches from Environment Canada. If there is a warning in the area, take the right precautions,” said Johnson. Johnson says tornados are extremely rare, and the province has seen only about four this year. “When you see how vast the province is and how few tornados we get and how short our season is, and you add all of those things up, you realize there’s not much to be afraid of.” Despite being afraid or not, it’s always good to be prepared. Johnson helps us with some tips on how you can stay safe from summer storms: -‐During a thunderstorm, seek shelter indoors and stay away from windows. Do not hide under or near trees. -‐If it is lightening outside stay indoors or in your vehicle. Lightening can strike up to several miles away from a storm so avoid trees and stop golfing. And remember, it does not need to be raining for there to be a lightening risk. -‐If there is a tornado in the area get underground immediately. Do not hide under a highway overpass. -‐If you’re nearby a tornado while driving, stay in your vehicle with your seatbelt on and drive away if possible. If that is impossible, last resort is to get to a low spot like a ditch. — Djuric
Televisualist: Smokeless Brit Christopher Bird http://torontoist.com/2014/10/televisualist-‐smokeless-‐brit/ Tornado Hunters: a reality show about storm chasers. Every episode features a different tornado! Guaranteed to be 10 times more exciting than Ice Road Truckers or they’ll suck somebody up into a twister for sweeps week. (CMT, 10 p.m. Sunday)
CMT Predicts New Web Series Launch for Tornado Hunters 2014-‐07-‐15 http://www.mediacastermagazine.com/news/cmt-‐predicts-‐new-‐web-‐series-‐launch-‐for-‐ tornado-‐hunters/1003159517/?&er=NA CMT.ca is launching its first-‐ever Web series with a view to extreme weather and a new specialty channel TV series. Corus Entertainment’s Country Music Television (Canada) new web series,Tornado Hunters, launches Monday, August 18; it features Canadian extreme weather chasers Greg Johnson, Chris Chittick and Ricky Forbes, tracking storms across North America. Produced by Toronto-‐based Saloon Media and developed with the participation of the Bell Fund, the five webisodes act as a launching pad for the official broadcast pilot, which CMT says will air at a later date. Saloon Media is headed by Executive Producer Michael Kot. CMT.ca will host an interactive campaign when the show launches, gathering feedback across its social media channels that will be used to help shape the upcoming pilot. The Hunters are recognized as first responders within the news media and they've garnered mainstream popularity throughout the world for their real-‐time weather reports and footage of severe storms and tornados.
08.18.2014 http://johncairnsblog.wordpress.com/2014/08/18/webisodes-‐featuring-‐canadogreg-‐and-‐the-‐ cmttornadohunters-‐are-‐now-‐up/ As a dedicated follower of storm chasers and all their activities, I am really looking forward to the Tornado Hunters show coming this fall to CMT. It will follow the exploits of the Saskatchewan-‐based tornado chasers Greg Johnson, Chris Chittick and Ricky Forbes as they chase storms all over North America. In fact, this may be the one time I will ever tune into CMT to watch any of their programming — although I guess I also tuned in for Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team. I’m certainly not tuning in to any of their country music, that’s a fact. Maybe CMT should switch formats — to 50 percent cheerleaders and 50 percent storm chasers. Or better yet, give both of them their own channel. Anyway, in advance of their show airing the Tornado Hunters havewebisodes of their show now up at the CMT website. Check it out, thrill seekers. The other thing I notice is that Johnson is doing commercials now featuring their F-‐150 “Flash” storm-‐chasing vehicle, airing right now for Ford. Check out an example of that below. Well, this is a big step up from doing radio ads for hail insurance, that’s for sure. It’s safe to say these Tornado Hunter guys are raking in the dough — commercial dough, that is. Over and out!
Storms, Storms, Excitement & Storms 07.18.2014 http://westcentralonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&i d=9&Itemid=329 The excitement was pouring in yesterday as the weather warnings came in for tornado watches. The excitement began when we knew that Greg and the Tornado Hunters were coming through Kindersley to hunt for those twirly beasts. They had their live feed on online and were headed towards Leader when they realized the storm had split up. The biggest of the storm cells were headed toward Kerrobert and of course the crew had to come back through Kindersley to catch it. This is where our crazy news man, Trevor Redden, steps in and decides he is going to chase the storm chasers... he followed the Tornado Hunters to their destination. Trevor snapped a picture or two and of course interviewed them on the scene like the brave (or crazy) person he is. "That was scary! I was standing there and there were swirling clouds above my head! They said we were safe there but man, it didn't look that way to me", said Trevor. You know what I say to that Trev? You are PRETTY tall and I am surprised the tornado didn't come down and nab you. Luck must be on your side but next time keep in mind that tornadoes eat crazy people like you for breakfast!!
Tornado clusters appearing more often, as seen through the lens of a 'tornado chaser' Joshua Learn, E&E reporter Monday, October 20, 2014
http://www.eenews.net/stories/1060007543 EXCERPT FROM ARTICLE FEATURING AN INTERVIEW WITH GREG JOHNSON:
His team will be featured in an upcoming reality TV show in Canada called "Tornado Hunters," and he said that when it comes to situations like Pilger, movies like "Into the Storm" and "Twister" are actually fairly accurate.
Students at CAPE School get visit from Tornado Hunters October, 23, 2014 http://chattelevision.ca/__news/students-‐at-‐cape-‐school-‐get-‐visit-‐from-‐tornado-‐hunter/ Students at CAPE School got some insight into how tornadoes are formed, as a professional storm chaser made a visit this afternoon. Chris Chittick, a videographer for the CMT show Tornado Hunters, spoke to children about how storms develop, and the way his three man team captures their videos. Chittick says all kids should be taught basic storm safety in case of an emergency. “I think it’s super important for kids to learn about storm safety because tornado alley is moving farther north every year. So Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba are all under the gun now, as far as tornado alley.”
INTO THE EYE OF THE STORM BY ADAM HAWBOLDT http://www.verbnews.com/issues/s306/local.php
Tornado Hunters show set to premier on CMT in October Next time you have access to the internet, go to www.cmt.ca. Look for the picture with the three guys in it, the one that says Tornado Hunters, and click. Once the screen changes, scroll down below the video box. There you’ll see a list of five webisodes lined up horizontally. Go to webisode #2, the one titled “Redneck Poker,” and give it a watch. Watch as Ricky Forbes, wearing a black, flat-‐brimmed baseball cap, tell you: “We’re tornado hunters. That means driving straight into the worst weather on Earth.”
Watch as hail the size of grapefruits crash into a truck, creating enormous spider-‐webbed dents in the front windshield. Watch as the three guys — Greg Johnson, the photographer; Chris Chittick, the videographer; and Forbes, the driver — roll into Duma, Texas and play a game of Redneck Poker with a couple of waitresses they met while on the road. Watch the webisode intently. Then, at the 4:42 mark, pause it. In the lower right hand corner of the frame, you’ll see a handgun. Cocked, loaded and ready to fire. To left of the screen, there’s an orange and black truck with the words “Tornado Hunters” on the side. The truck’s name is Flash — a Ford-‐150. But this isn’t your normal F-‐150. No, Flash is the kind of F-‐150 that’s designed to drive straight into the heart of a storm and come out unscathed. Inside the truck there are computers, cameras, and eight to 10 radars. Dressing up the outside of the truck is a lift kit and a metal exo-‐skeleton. It also boasts front and back bumpers made of steel, roll bars, and mitigation bars on both sides of the truck, running from the front bumper back to the roll bars. “The reason for those mitigation bars,” says Forbes, “is because a lot of times when we’re out there we’ll come by falling trees or power lines are coming down all around us. The mitigation bars help clear stuff like that over the top of the truck instead of hitting our front windshield.” Forbes pauses, thinks for a moment, then continues. “Last year we had three situations where power lines came down in a storm and whipped against [the truck], but you know what? All three times, instead of smacking directly into us, they went over top.” Okay. So they know the mitigation bars work. But what about the Line-‐X protective coating that covers the truck, which adds an extra 750 pounds to the weight of Flash? The guys know the Line-‐X will stop flying 2x4s and steel rods from penetrating the truck. They’ve traveled more than 190,000 kilometres in Flash, during which they have intercepted an astonishing 51 tornadoes. So they have no fears that it can withstand debris. But what about a bullet? Unpause webisode #2 and you’ll find out. On screen, there’s a countdown. Three … two …
The woman in the striped shirt holding the gun asks if they are ready, then fires. The bang of the gun is followed by a high-‐pitched, tinny ping as the bullet ricochets off Flash, leaving only the slightest of dents. The guys are pumped — and rightfully so. Each year, from roughly mid-‐April to the end of July, Forbes, Johnson and Chittick spend their time chasing down storms, and driving straight into the heart of danger. So it’s good to know Flash will hold up if called upon. … Ricky Forbes remembers the day like it was yesterday. The day that, had things happened just a little differently, Flash’s Line-‐X coating and metal exoskeleton wouldn’t have been enough to save them. It was May 31st of last year. The place: El Reno, Oklahoma. “It was wild,” says Forbes, “We got caught in this tornado that was over four kilometres at its base. The largest tornado ever on record. It grew so fast. Usually tornadoes are about a mile wide, maybe a mile and a half, but this one kept growing bigger and bigger. It grew super fast. I mean, usually they take a half hour or an hour to develop and we can watch them as they grow. But this one, it only took about 10 to 15 minutes.” That surprised the Tornado Hunters. So too did the tornado’s trajectory. “Storms generally track from a north to east direction, or somewhere in there,” explains Forbes. “And we generally set up on the south side of it, keep a safe distance. But this one took a hard south turn and came directly at us at a very fast pace. Between that and how fast it was expanding, we had no hope of getting away from it.” And soon, the trio were engulfed by chaos. “We were at a farm when it happened, and the farmyard was getting torn apart,” continues Forbes. As he recalls the incident, his voice starts rising, growing more excited with every word. “The debris from the house and the barn was hitting our truck. All I … What we were —“ Forbes takes a deep breath and apologizes for sounding rattled. He explains that his adrenalin starts pumping whenever he thinks of that day. Then Forbes continues, “We had to hit a ditch — the first thing you do when you’re in a vehicle and a tornado hits. You’re worried about wind getting underneath your vehicle, so getting to a ditch is your best chance … to survive. When we were going through the ditch, honest to god man, I wish we had it on camera, this two-‐ton grain farm truck came flying through the air.” Time inched on. Everything moved in slow motion. But as the driver of Flash for nearly three yeas, Forbes knew what he had to do. He knew the worst thing to do was to stop. “Storms are constantly moving,” he says, “they’re dynamic. So you have to keep moving through them. Keep on trucking.”
So that’s what he did. While the two-‐ton farm truck was flying through the air, he kept Flash moving through the ditch. When the two-‐ton farm truck came crashing down in front of them he didn’t hesitate. By instinct, he jerked the wheel, dodged the farm truck and got Flash up and out of the ditch. “Right about that time we got out of the circulation of the tornado and were able to get away,” he remembers. “It was just wild. Only lasted a total of 35 or 40 seconds, but it felt like forever.” … When “Redneck Poker” ends, go back to the beginning of it all, and click on Tornado Hunters’ Webisode #1 — “Night Chase.” There, you’ll watch the guys go to work in Assiniboia, Saskatchewan. It’s dark out. You’ll see some stunning photographs taken by Johnson, and hear about the dangers of chasing storms at night. At one point, Forbes will appear on screen — this time with his hat on backwards — and he’ll say something like, “So I’m the driver … and my job is to get these f**king morons out of the situations they get us into.” Which is understandable. That’s his position with the crew. But what isn’t as understandable is how a guy who used to do graphic design, a self-‐confessed “computer geek” from Saskatchewan, ended up chasing storms for a living. After all, it isn’t a natural thing to do. Most people see a giant tornado bearing down on them and they either run away or hide. But Forbes, he’s elected to ride straight into the belly of the beast. Why? “Three years ago I was doing freelance graphic design work, and through a friend of a friend I heard that Greg was putting together a team,” Forbes explains. “He needed someone to go out on the road with him, chasing storms, who could handle the computer side of things.” Forbes decided he could do that role and signed up. He went out for a few chases, and when he saw his first storm, up close and personal, he was immediately addicted. “When you get to see that in person, when you get to feel it … you can feel the electricity in the air, you get to see Mother Nature at her most furious. At her most unique. Nobody else really gets to see this,” says Forbes. “You see it, and others will tell you this, but you see it and you want to see it again. When you’re storm chasing, you only get to see them, like, one percent of the time. The other 99 percent of the time you’re forecasting, you’re traveling to locations, lots of times it just doesn’t work out. But between the hunt of it and getting to see things most other people don’t get to see, it’s hard to beat that. It’s super addictive.”
But like other addictions, storm chasing doesn’t come cheap. Especially when, during the course of a tornado season, the team travels from Regina to Texas, from Alabama all the way back up to North Dakota. And especially when you’re trying to make a living off it. “When you’re trying to make a business out of storm chasing, there’s not a whole lot of cash in it,” says Forbes. “So you have to get creative and explore all the different avenues you can make some money from. It started with just selling videos and footage and photos, but then we were like, ‘Hey! There aren’t any storm chasing shows on right now. Why don’t we try one?’” So that’s what they did. They put together a pilot/teaser video, and around the same time Saloon Media, a production company from Toronto, got in contact with the team. Told them they were interested in doing a show. At the moment the show Tornado Hunters consists of five webisodes and a trailer on the CMT website, but soon — by the end of October — CMT will be bringing the full-‐length show to a television set near you. That’s when you can really see what it’s like to chase storms. That’s when you can see the brotherly (sometimes bickering) relationship between Forbes, Johnson and Chittick. And you can also see how funny these guys can be one minute, how serious the next. And that’s when you can see Flash, with Forbes behind the wheel, being driven straight into the worst Mother Nature has to offer. Tornadoes, lightning storms — you name it, and the Tornado Hunters will be hot on its tail.
Interview with Greg Johnson, Chris Chittick and Ricky Forbes Oct. 25, 2014 No online archive available.
Press release:
Canada's Own Extreme Weather Chasers Are Featured In Thrill Seeking CMT.Ca Web Series Tornado Hunters
Press Release http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-‐investor/news-‐sources/?mid=cnw.20140715.C3800 CMT.ca gets in front of the action with its first ever web series launching Monday, August 18 Audience determines content for pilot episode by joining the #CMTTornadoHunters conversation @CMTCanada
TORONTO, July 15, 2014 /CNW/ -‐ The unimaginable power of Mother Nature comes to life on Corus Entertainment's CMT (Canada) web series, Tornado Hunters , launching Monday, August 18. Led by Canada's extreme weather chasers Greg Johnson, Chris Chittick and Ricky Forbes, the team tackles the biggest tornadoes in North America, risking their lives capturing one-‐of-‐a-‐kind footage in their indestructible pick-‐up truck, Flash. Get a sneak peek of Tornado Hunters here. Viewers will have a first-‐hand look at the trials and tribulations that come with living a life of storm hunting. From the weight of worry in their personal relationships to facing 300 mile-‐per-‐hour winds, the team provides access to some of their most exclusive footage. Produced by Saloon Media and developed with the participation of the Bell Fund, the five webisodes will be the launching pad for the official broadcast pilot set to air on CMT at a later date. Beginning August 18, CMT.ca will host an interactive campaign, prompting fans to provide their input and join the #CMTTornadoHunters conversation with@CMTCanada. Feedback will be tracked to help shape the upcoming pilot. The Tornado Hunters are recognized as first responders within the news media and have garnered mainstream popularity throughout the world for their real-‐time weather expertise and stunning footage of the world's most severe storms. Environment Canada, broadcast meteorologists and audiences globally monitor their newsfeeds and tune into their live web streams regularly to witness the phenomena they are able to capture. About the Tornado Hunter team Greg Johnson (@Canadogreg) -‐ As a former staffer on Parliament Hill and marketing executive, Greg left his desk job to pursue his passion and turn his hobby into a business. Greg is the public face of Tornado Hunters and has become one of North America's top
professional storm-‐chasers and severe weather photographers, with his signature nerd goggles and hockey helmet in tow. Chris Chittick (@ChittickChris) -‐ Chris is the storm-‐chasing veteran with a cool demeanor. Having starred in the U.S. hit series Storm Chasers, Chris has 15 years of chasing and over 400 tornadoes on his extreme weather resume. Known as the videographer with the steadiest hands in the business, Chris also acts as the chief interpreter of tracking storm data constantly being analyzed by the team. The only American in the group, Chris moved to Saskatchewan to be with his Canadian girlfriend, and is still getting the hang of the metric system.Ricky Forbes (@ForbesRicky) -‐ Saskatchewan native with movie-‐star looks, Ricky, takes the driver seat in every adventure, navigating the team fearlessly through each storm. As the resident media whiz, Ricky spearheads the team's online presence that has garnered millions of hits including his most recent "Momma Bear Highway Rescue" video. Interact with CMT and the Tornado Hunters online: #CMTTornadoHunters Twitter: @CMTCanada Instagram: @CMT_Canada Facebook: Facebook.com/CMTCanada www.cmt.ca/show/tornado-‐hunters/
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Tornado Hunters
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