Catch the return of a summer blockbuster movie, this time with a “twist.”
The stormchasing sensation Twisters is making a return to Reel Attractions in September and on September 7, none other than real life storm chaser Greg Johnson will be on hand for a presentation before the screening and a brief Q and A after the show. He’ll be in the house for both the 2 pm and 7 pm shows.
We caught up with Johnson in advance of the event to find out a bit more about people’s passions for the violent storms that produce tornados and on his own experiences in the field.
“I hadn’t seen an honest thunderstorm until I moved to the prairies,” confesses Johnson. Fifteen years ago, I had an opportunity to do a ‘chase-cation’ where I went down south during storm season, and I kind of fell in love with it.”
At the time, it hadn’t occurred to Johnson that he could make a living tracking and recording such storms to provide footage, verification and storm reporting. He’ll talk about that transformation from hobbyist to professional in his visit on the 7th of September.
Nowhere are people more economically and psychically concerned about the weather than on the prairies where agriculture continues to be the platform for much of its work and production. Weather is a common thread that impacts people the world over, and that makes it a default focus for people’s fascination.
“When you have bad weather on the horizon, all of a sudden, the news day becomes a bit more interesting. When you have bad weather close to home, it gets even more interesting. When there’s a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico or on the east coast, it leads the news. When you have a large hailstorm or a tornado close to home in Saskatchewan – guess what – it's going to lead the news as well.”
The storm chasing community comes from around the world, all converging under the same cloud in a dusty field following weather data that foretells storm development. It’s a cultural phenomenon that’s explored a bit in the film, Johnson says, as is the science that leads chasers to storm fronts.
“The process involves following what are called numerical weather models. Imagine baking a cake where you have four or five ingredients that you have to have to bake the cake. Without one of those ingredients, the cake doesn't urn out. The exact same process happens with tornadoes and severed weather.”
Once those conditions are all present, Johnson and his storm chasing compatriots take to the road. He’s chased storms in 26 U.S. states and the three prairie provinces. Part of the allure is that weather is simply uncontrollable, and that’s part of the theme in the film, says Johnson.
“It doesn’t portray that we are necessarily trying to control the weather, but how do we find out more so we can get better warnings for people that are in the path of the tornadoes.”
While the movie occasionally strays into “Hollywoodland,” as Johnson calls it, he praises the film for its intent in getting across the spirit of stormchasing and particularly the weather scenes, which Johnson says is incredibly real. He’ll prove it by showing some of his own footage in comparison to the film’s produced interpretation of the storm.
Come out on September 7 to either show and find out the reality of stormchasing life while catching the summer’s biggest cinematic tribute to wild weather, Twisters.
Find out more about Greg Johnson at TornadoHunter.com