Twisters, the remake of the 1996 movie Twister, which follows the exploits of Oklahoma storm chasers, opens today, drawing comparisons between the two films made nearly 30 years apart.
Just how accurate are both films? Jonathan Belles, a digital meteorologist at The Weather Company, parent company of The Weather Channel, has seen both films and says Twisters, the new movie, is more meteorologically accurate than the first.
“It’s a little surprising, but I knew that the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., was helping on the new movie so they had a little more expert insight.”
One thing that isn’t quite accurate is the movie’s use of technology that is currently in development but is not yet available to meteorologists. However, Belles said it might be on the market within five to 10 years.
Another area where Belles thinks the second movie is more accurate is the number of storms the storm chasers encountered.
“In the first movie you see them going from tornado to tornado to tornado, that’s not realistic,” Belles said. “The number of tornados they encountered in the first movie would probably have taken them a whole tornado season. In the new movie, they looked at three or four storms, which is a little more realistic.”
How the storm chasers react
Another thing that interests a meteorologist watching a movie about tornados is how the actors react in a tornado situation. In the original movie storm chasers Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton jump into a ditch when they encounter the first twister and later, strap themselves to an iron bar in a barn when an EF5 monster makes a direct hit.
“In neither case would they have probably been okay,” Belles said. “Certainly, in the case of the pipe, they would have been hit by something – a tractor, pieces of wood or other debris.”
In the new movie, the storm chasers take better precautions, largely staying out of harm’s way but taking refuge in a safer location when the twister gets too close.
Of all the storms, tornados are the most destructive. Even a small, EF2 tornado can severely damage or destroy a house.
‘A lot of power’
“It’s a lot of power,” Belles said. “A tornado is literally like a drill coming down to earth and anything in the way gets ripped apart.”
Today’s forecasting methods can predict tornados with greater accuracy and spot them on radar, giving people in their path ample warning.
When warned of an approaching tornado, Belles urges people to resist the urge to go outside and try to record video of the storm. Instead, he says to get to the lowest floor of a building. If there is no basement, get in an interior room with as many walls as possible between you and the tornado. As for Twisters, Belles is one meteorologist who gives it two thumbs up.
“It was the perfect mix of weather and Hollywood magic,” he said.
