The Real Storm Chasers Who Inspired Twister (2025)

The Big Picture

• The movie Twister was inspired by the work of real-life storm researchers at the NSSL and incorporates accurate tornado-tracking technology.
• The real-life tornado tracking device was called TOTO and had similar features to the fictional device Dorothy portrayed in the movie.
• TOTO provided valuable weather data but was retired due to its size and potential danger to researchers close to tornadoes.

You didn't need to have a niche interest in extreme weather to love the '90s Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton classic, Twister. It was cinematic excellence seeing a cow twisting and circling through the air among other debris, and you can't tell me otherwise. Maybe it's because Twister came out in 1996, and it hits me in all the nostalgic places, but I will always watch it when I get a chance. In fact, being a storm-chaser was one of the first careers I wanted to have at the ripe age of seven. Tornadoes are very real and very scary weather phenomena that are entirely unpredictable, so Twister might not hit home for anyone who lives outside of Tornado Alley. However, if you have seen the movie, it might put a little fear in your heart and wonder in your mind as to who the crazy people are who would want to study such a volatile event. Those people are called NSSL researchers, and it is their job to study these twisting, turning, funnels of destruction. As we gear up for the forthcoming sequel, Twisters, releasing in July and starring Glen Powell and Daisy Edgar-Jones, let's revisit the original and see if Twister is legitimate and based on actual science.

Twister

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Bill and Jo Harding, advanced storm chasers on the brink of divorce, must join together to create an advanced weather alert system by putting themselves in the cross-hairs of extremely violent tornadoes.

What Is 'Twister' About?

In Twister, Helen Hunt stars as Dr. Jo Harding, a woman who was traumatized by an F5 tornado as a child when it struck her family farm and killed her father. As an adult, Jo becomes a tornado-obsessed meteorologist with a crew of misfits (including Succession's Alan Ruck and a scene-stealing performance from Philip Seymour Hoffman) who team up to chase the insane storms in the Oklahoma area. Jo's soon-to-be ex-husband, Bill Harding (Bill Paxton), is an ex-storm chaser who turned his career into a TV weather forecaster. He comes to Oklahoma with his current fiancé to get Jo to sign their divorce papers, but Bill soon realizes that Jo has made the ultimate tornado-tracking device. This tracking device is one that he conceptualized, which is a capsule named "Dorothy" that is made up of hundreds of small sensors that get deployed into the center of the twister. The only downfall of Dorothy is how dangerously close the team has to be to the tornado to get it to work. Conveniently enough, a strong storm is developing, and Jo's team rushes off to chase it, with Bill following behind. Twister truly has everything you could need in a film: huge tornadoes, dramatic rain scenes, true love, and rival chasers.

What Real Life Inspiration Did 'Twister' Use?

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Michael Crichton and Ann-Marie Martin were inspired by their work when writing Twister. The NSSL (National Severe Storms Laboratory) is a facet of the NOAA that focuses solely on studying severe weather, like tornadoes. Those scientists and researchers are dedicated to discerning why and how a storm like a tornado forms. Their research better serves the weather community by providing information to forecasters that can be used to better prepare the communities that are potentially going to be affected by a tornado. Their most recent work happened in the late winter of 2023 when they collected more data for future use.

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When filming for Twister, a large portion of the cast actually went storm-chasing with the NSSL, with Bill Paxton spending the majority of time with them. However, according to the NOAA, none of the cast saw any tornadoes the day they went out chasing. Producer Steven Spielberg and the other writers of Twister consulted with real-life scientists to make the script as accurate as it could possibly be. Dorothy is based on the real machine, TOTO. TOTO stands for Totable Tornado Observatory, and it had the same barrel-like shape that we see Dorothy display in the movie. The filmmakers of Twister continued The Wizard of Oz theme by naming TOTO's cinematic counterpart Dorothy.

Did TOTO Actually Work?

TOTO was retired in 1987, before Twister was made, but the unique piece of equipment provided a lot of insight before being put to rest. The NOAA describes TOTO as a 250-350 pound barrel that contains a wide variety of different weather instruments, which include anemometers as well as pressure and humidity sensors. TOTO required two researchers to use it, and it was placed in the back of a truck bed in a special apparatus,just like we see in Twister. Once TOTO was turned upright and in the proper position, it would be time for the team to figure out the best place to deploy it. The ideal position would be on a level surface off the main road and away from any potential risks, like swirling tree branches or other potential debris.

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There was a ton of potential risk with these researchers lugging around TOTO. With it being a metal barrel, there was the risk of being struck by lightning. On top of that, they also run the risk of being swept away by the tornado because of how close TOTO needed to be deployed for the sensors to be picked up in the tunnel — a close call we see in Twister. The closest that researchers ever got to actually using TOTO as intended was in April 1984. Steve Smith and Lou Wicker of NSSL attempted to deploy TOTO in Ardmore, Oklahoma, but the machine didn't have the right center of gravity to withstand the extreme winds. The TOTO Home Page shows pictures of the device lying comfortably on its side after the last failed attempt. TOTO's retirement occurred because of how large it was, and because of the potential dangers of having to use it so close to a deadly tornado. If you're a weather instrument lover, you can still see the original barrel on display in Norman, Oklahoma. So basically, if you were ever told that being a storm-chaser isn't a real career path, you can kindly send them to the NOAA website. If your opportunity to be a storm-chaser is a little out of reach now, you can still enjoy the thrill of it all by revisiting Twister.

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