How accurate is 'Twisters'? Texas expert breaks down summer blockbuster

TEXAS (KXAN) — The summer blockbuster "Twisters" has tornadoed its way through the box office, earning $154 million in domestic ticket sales and $220 million globally since kickstarting its theatrical run July 19. As the follow up to the 1996 classic "Twister" generates buzz worldwide, a Texas tornado expert explains just how realistic the sequel depicts meteorological events.

Dr. Christopher Nowotarski is an associate professor at Texas A&M University's Department of Atmospheric Sciences and a resident tornado expert in the Lone Star State. In a blog post published last week, he said both the original and sequel do a strong job at capturing the "essence of storm chasing" and highlighting the passion professional and recreational storm chasers have for the storms.

"The new movie, in particular, does a good job of including real terminology that meteorologists use when discussing severe storms in the right context and showing a variety of real instruments, including some cameos from some of my real storm-chaser colleagues!" he said in the blog. "Of course, there’s a heavy dose of Hollywood magic sprinkled on both movies. So naturally, some of the plot points, depiction of what tornadoes can do or what science can realistically achieve are exaggerated, dramatized or physically impossible, but that’s what makes them fun movies and not documentaries."

Some of that "Hollywood magic" includes just how close storm chasers and scientists get to active storms. While field scientists can get close to tornadoes for data collection, he said that "there is no science goal that requires people to drive into ongoing storms." He did note some storm work involves traveling in strong rainstorms and hail to gather certain data points, such as winds, pressure, temperature and moisture.

Part of the film involves scientists dropping Phased Array Radars (PARs) around active tornadoes, but in reality, Nowotarski said mobile radars and PARs are usually deposited at a safe, further distance. And, sorry moviegoers: A key plotline in the film just isn't based in reality.

"One aspect of the new movie that lacks real-world basis is the idea of destroying individual tornadoes by having them suck up desiccant powder," Nowotarski said. "While meteorologists have long attempted to modify how individual clouds can produce rain through a process known as cloud seeding, it’s highly unlikely that the small-scale methods depicted in the movie would have any real impact on tornadoes. To my knowledge, no one is actively pursuing such an approach."

He did share agreement with one concern floated in the movie: The frequency of tornado warnings and how it can lead to "complacency" and lack of urgency from the public. Nowotarski said efforts from the National Severe Storms Laboratory is running "many short-range, high-resolution weather model forecasts" in more specific and concentrated areas to better predict storms and how likely they are to produce tornadoes.

As for the convergence of meteorological storm chasers and recreational ones depicted in "Twisters," he did say the spiked interest in storm chasing has led to more and more people entering towns and crowding roadways ahead of severe weather — presenting its own unique challenges.

"While I’m a firm believer that everyone has a right to storm chase, regardless of their goals, there can be some frustration at the level of traffic on roads that may impede data collection when scientists are also out there," Nowotarski said. "Folks who storm chase to report tornadoes to the weather service or bring attention and awareness to the public do still provide a valuable service, in my view. Thus, I’m generally supportive of these efforts as long as they’re done responsibly and don’t put an undue burden on local emergency management and law enforcement."

Read more at Nowortarski's blog to learn more about Texas A&M's atmospheric sciences program.