Nearly three decades ago 'Twister' inspired a generation of meteorologists, and now the sequel 'Twisters' could have the same effect on future generations.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — A tornado outbreak can look like a Hollywood script come to life— with out-of-this-world winds bringing mass destruction. Storm tracker Zachary Hall has seen some of the worst damage imaginable.
"There's so many severe weather events that have happened in our state that it's almost hard to take in at times," he said.
Hall is a storm tracker based out of Northwest Arkansas who has over 200,000 followers on Facebook.
"Every day I'm trying to stay in the loop for what's coming up next," he added.
Ironically, it was a movie that helped inspire Hall's fascination with the forecast.
"Twister is a classic! I remember watching it as a little kid and I was already interested in weather," he explained. "It had such a profound impact on me, and I've probably watched it 1,000 times since."
Now 28 years later, the summer box office hit of the summer is getting a sequel.
Much like the visual effects in these films, the way these twisters are tracked has changed a lot since 1996.
"We'll have these red dots of people's location all around the storm. If we know somebody should have a good view based on the geometry of what we're seeing on radar based on where they are. We can call them and say hey look to the northeast and tell us what you're seeing right now," described Dennis Cavanaugh, the warning coordination meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Little Rock.
Much like Hall, Cavanaugh was a big fan of the original film but quickly pointed out how it's much different than reality.
"It's exciting stuff. It's a movie. Like any Hollywood movie they're going to downplay how dangerous it is," he added.
Of course, you don't have to be Bill Paxton or Glenn Powell chasing EF-5 tornadoes in a pickup truck to enter the field of weather. Cavanaugh thinks the sequel has a chance to excite a new generation of weather enthusiasts.
"Probably won't be scientifically accurate, but it will be exciting and focused on weather. Putting those aspects together probably will inspire a group of Gen Z to look into meteorology to see what types of jobs are available" Cavanaugh said.
Inspired to even create their own job and brand, just like Hall, who's known widely as "The Arkansas Storm Tracker".
"I try to do what I can to make sure that people are in the loop and they know what's coming. I co-exist with the National Weather Service offices and our local meteorologists that way no one is left behind when it comes to weather information," he said.
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