Original subtitles

It's planting, it's planting. This is a killer tornado.

I am not taking this gamble.

[Reed speaking]

[reporter] When we go to bed tonight, these storms are not

going to give up.

[Freddy speaking]

[Brooke speaking]

[main theme playing]

[Tanner] Oh, yeah.

Yes, nice-looking storm.

What is up guys?

Heading to North Dakota for a boom or bust day.

Look at that. Oh.

That would be crazy.

So, feeling pretty good about today.

Uh, we'll see, um, see what happens.

I'm a professional storm chaser and I've been chasing for about

15 years now. I love chasing storms because

of the rare beauty it brings,

but also bringing people into that.

And I do that in the form of the live stream.

I view myself as a professional tour guide

to the wonders of God's creation.

And that day in particular, I was looking at radar.

And I knew in that moment we were gonna get

a big tornado.

Let's start with our severe weather potential.

So, here's the tornado potential.

Today it's a level 3 out of 5

for central portions of North Dakota.

The tough thing is that when we go to bed tonight,

these storms are not going to give up.

[Brandon P.] All right, I'm back.

A lot of chasers here right now.

This is my first really big day chasing on my own

as a full-time storm chaser.

I used to be a meteorologist in the Air Force for four years,

but I left that to do this full time.

There we are.

Storm going up.

I was able to use that Air Force money and put myself in

a position to where I could take that leap of faith

and pursue my dreams.

All right, gonna hop on the interstate here

and get out ahead of this thing a little bit.

We're getting a tornado today,

no matter what.

There's a lot of butterflies in the stomach 'cause you know

this could be a day that you're not gonna forget.

All right.

We got ourselves a supercell that is trying to develop here.

Haven't seen it go big time yet, but if this thing goes,

we can get a strong tornado tonight.

I've been storm chasing for just over 16 years now.

When I was a kid, I convinced my dad to take us out on

a storm chase one time.

Not every dad is willing to take their seven-year-old son

out chasing tornadoes.

So a big boom or bust set up here today.

My dad is out there right now as well.

He's actually already on the base of this thing.

My dad made a lot of sacrifices

for me to get out there and chase storms.

This one could be a big daddy.

Hey, guys, welcome in.

My name is John McKinney, and I am a minister

and a professional storm chaser.

[camera clicks]

[John] I got into storm chasing

through my son, Freddy McKinney.

[camera clicks]

So I became kind of like a soccer mom, but more like

a storm-chasing dad.

This is the team tonight.

-We got Mike. -Hey.

Mike and John. John and Mike.

-However you wanna call 'em. -One, two.

Mike and John.

What's going on? Hey, everybody.

And we're here to really shake it up tonight.

We rocked it all the way up here to North Dakota,

and we got here just in time, just as the storm was firing.

But we're not gonna have it to ourselves.

I'm probably one of the older storm chasers.

My goal today is more of a father-like figure out there.

I guess it gives me a little niche of storm chasing that

might be a little different

than the younger, wilder, crazy type.

OK.

Very pretty storm, and it's spinning.

It's just not dropping yet.

[cars honk]

Sorry, guys.

I think it's gonna produce here soon.

This thing's gonna put down a tornado

in the next 30 minutes.

[car honks]

[Brandon P.] There's a lot of people around me.

I know Reed Timmer is, like, right behind me.

Would you look who it is behind us?

-The old Dominator! -[car honks]

The Dominator --

that's the most famous vehicle in storm chasing.

And Reed, he's the GOAT.

[Reed] We have a storm erupting,

erupting towers.

Look at how crisp that is at the base.

You've gotta be kidding me with that!

We're gonna drive into the tornado.

We're gonna collect data,

'cause that's what we do.

I've been a storm chaser for 30 years now.

It's definitely a lifelong passion.

I grew up a science nerd, so I went to

the University of Oklahoma to study meteorology.

Look.

Right up here. Look at this thing go.

It's right above us.

Let's get out and see if it's trying to drop.

Hey [laughs]. Hey!

[indistinct] bro.

-[Reed] How's it going? -[boy] Nice to meet you, bro.

[Reed] Nice to meet you. Look at that.

-See straight up? -[boy] Yes.

[Reed] That's trying to form a funnel right there.

Look at that.

[boy] This is crazy.

Our science mission involves the Dominator vehicles

because they can get inside of the tornado.

And we're trying to measure that very hard to capture

surface wind data inside of a tornado.

That's the wind that causes damage to life and property,

and it's also the hardest to collect.

We gotta go east.

Hey, look up there. Sorry, I gotta chase.

It's touching down right here. I gotta go.

A supercell is a thunderstorm with a rotating updraft,

and that's called a mesocyclone.

When you see that process happen over your head

from directly underneath, you truly understand it.

[John] There it is!

We're on a storm already.

Wow.

There it is.

[Mike] Oh, my goodness! Look at it go!

[John] This is a huge tornado, guys!

[Mike] Here it goes!

Oh, look at it go!

-It's down! -[John] There it is!

[John] Tornado! We can get closer, though.

[Mike] Let's do it!

[siren wails]

Look at this thing. Here it comes.

Storm chaser Brandon Copic.

We got a strong tornado on the ground behind us just

outside of Jamestown. Oh!

Whoo! Strong inflow!

Strong inflow!

Strong pipe on the ground!

For the day, the plan is simple.

I work with a major news organization.

I relay and say, "There's a tornado on the ground."

And utilizing that, the reports get relayed

to the National Weather Service,

who issues the tornado warnings.

[lightning cracks]

Mr. Copic is one of the best.

As a certified weather spotter myself, it's also

my responsibility to relay so we can make sure people on

the path of these storms are taking cover.

It's planting. It's planting.

No way.

[car honks]

-[Freddy] Oh, my gosh! -[Eli laughs]

That is a freaking hog!

That is a monster!

[thunder rumbles]

[Freddy] Guys, huge violent tornado here!

This is a huge tornado! Take cover, guys!

You're in the area.

I'm actually very worried about this, I'm not gonna lie.

Very, very concerning. This is a killer tornado, guys!

[sirens wails]

[Brandon P.] All right, we're about to step out.

Yeah!

Big tornado!

Let's go!

Oh!

Oh, my gosh, guys! Holy cow!

Wow! Holy cow, dude!

This is insane.

Wow!

Oh, my gosh!

What the five! This is crazy!

Oh, my gosh, dude.

[ominous chord plays]

Whoo!

All right, it's probably time to go.

This is insane!

This thing is huge, bro.

All right, we gotta get out of here.

[car honks]

[Tanner] When you see Reed next to you,

you probably should leave.

[Reed gasps]

[Reed speaking]

[dark chord plays]

[Reed speaking]

[man speaking]

Look at the left edge. Where's it going?

[Reed speaking]

It's coming at us.

[Reed speaking]

[Reed speaking]

[radio beeps]

[Brandon C. speaking]

Rain-wrapped tornadoes are very dangerous.

They're unpredictable. You can't see them.

You don't know if the tornado is directly in front of you.

Is it to the left, about to hit you?

[siren wails]

This is a tornado.

If you get too close to this, you freaking die, dude.

This is probably the strongest tornado I've seen this year.

Lost visual.

[radio beeps]

I don't like this.

[radio beeps]

[Freddy] I'm backing out. We gotta find my dad.

-[Eli] He's with Mike, right? -[Freddy] Yeah, he's with Mike.

I just got a tornado. It could kill ya.

[John] I can't see nothing here at the moment.

[Mike] Yeah.

-[John] Watch out, 'cause chasers... -[Mike] Oh, yeah.

...are flying in here right now.

It's a whole circus of storm chasers

looking for an escape route.

So immediately, I get worried about Freddy, because he gets

very close to violent tornadoes.

And I'm hoping that he came out of it all right.

[Mike] Wanna turn around or try to get east?

-[John] Is that Freddy? -[Mike] Yeah, let's turn around.

-Um. -Go over here in a moment.

[Mike] Get us out of here.

I think we just gotta get out of the path at this moment.

Let's get on the interstate and go east.

[John] Yeah, exactly.

So, we're gonna reposition, re-engage.

[Mike] That was insane.

Oh my God!

That was the best intercept of my whole life.

Best [bleep] intercept of my whole life, man.

Oh my God, if you knew how long

I've been waiting on something like that.

The amount of work that I put in to get to this point.

That is the kind of intercept I have dreamed of.

It's my first day chasing full time.

I know the footage is good

and it's paying off up to this point.

When it comes to the money making side of things,

typically the closer you are, the better.

Drama sells, so people wanna see the close footage.

That tornado was loud and it was powerful.

[Reed] Oh, we got a intercept there.

Go on, don't lose sight of this thing.

-[Reed] Yeah, we will. -Are we west?

-We gotta check on the damage. -Are we westerly still?

-Yeah, still west. -[Reed] Can't see very good.

Power line down here. That house is in big trouble.

[Reed] Yeah, we need to go check that.

[man] Yes.

[Reed] Oh.

Hello? Hey, hello?

Hello? Where'd they go?

[knocks on window]

[man speaking]

-[alarm beeps] -[man speaking]

[woman cries] Oh, God.

[crew members speak]

[woman] We've both lived here for 40 years.

[Reed] Wow. Beautiful place to live.

-[woman] It was. -[Reed] You'll be able to build back.

-Yeah. -Glad you're OK.

It's a huge sense of relief anytime you know that

people are OK.

We were very thankful that they survived

that without a scratch.

That was nuts.

The strongest one we've seen.

Crazy, crazy.

All right, guys, let's figure out what we're gonna do, huh?

Do we go south? Do we keep on this thing?

Yeah, that's probably the new -- new area of interest.

I think we're gonna stick with this guy.

I'm gonna go back down to the highway and punch

through this. I'm gonna go get it.

Wow.

As the tornado is slowly dissipating and everything's

dying out, I feel this sense of relief.

But then I look on radar and I see there's another storm

right behind this one.

Window's covered in freaking mud.

I can't see out of it.

Cannot see out of it.

Tornado threat is rapidly increasing here.

I think we actually have a big time tornado threat developing

with this supercell. So trying to figure this out.

Looking at the radar, I noticed rotations just about

a mile to our north.

The supercell is still ongoing right in front of us.

All the signs are there that this storm is

gonna produce another tornado.

-There's my dad and Mike. -[Eli] Hi, Mike!

[Mike] Is that Freddy? [laughs]

[Mike] Yes!

That's awesome.

I step out, and it's Eli and Freddy.

[John] Oh, there you go.

[Mike] I can't tell you, dude, how many times this happens.

[John] Oh, look at the rope up. There's a rope.

-See the rope? -[Mike] I see the rope.

[John] You see it?

[Mike] Let's go!

[Freddy] Oh, yeah, there it is.

That's an anticyclonic tornado coming down.

Tornadoes in the Northern Hemisphere like to

spin counterclockwise, but this tornado is spinning

the opposite direction.

Oh my gosh!

Spinning the wrong way!

[dark chord plays]

[Freddy clears throat]

[thunder rumbles]

[radio beeps]

This thing is so confusing.

I can't believe that anticyclonic one is so big.

This tornado is spinning the opposite direction.

It only happens in very rare situations like this.

And that means the supercell is gonna get a lot worse.

[John] That guy right there is the GOAT.

Oh.

[John] Mike chose the target, drove us right to it, man.

[Mike] Look at this thing go! Gosh, that's beautiful.

[John] This tornado is an anticyclonic.

It's just incredible.

You're seeing this phenomena of weather that's...

so bizarre.

[Freddy] That is absolutely nuts!

Dude!

Holy smokes.

We have another cell blowing up.

Things are just racing Northeast right now.

We're gonna have to probably move here.

I spot another tornado on the ground.

There are multiple different tornadoes touching down.

Oh my gosh, this new tornado is crazy too.

There's my dad and Mike.

When I'm out chasing, I do worry about my dad.

It's definitely new for him.

After 16 years of chasing, I'm now able to help make sure

that he's going to the right area.

Mike! New tornado east!

We have a new tornado east!

It's good to see Freddy out there on the same storm.

Makes me feel like I'm somewhat successful

at storm chasing as well.

OK, let's go.

It's turning big down there.

[Mike] Oh boy, this thing is really cranking.

We are noticing on radar that behind us,

there is this large group of storms and it's racing

toward us with very high straight-line winds.

And this is what is called a derecho.

We're getting nervous.

This is starting to feel a bit scary,

and now darkness is approaching.

Storm chasing in the dark is very dangerous.

You just don't have the visualization of the storm,

and that could kill you.

[sirens wail]

[Reed] The derecho continues to push off to the east.

We have a massive supercell base that's barreling toward us

at 100-plus-mile-per-hour wind,

which has tornadoes embedded within it.

This thing is going crazy. Might be about to plant,

don't you think, Will? -[Will] Yeah, it's looking good.

Chasing at night can be dangerous, so you need

a lot of experience.

Sometimes you have to hear the tornado to chase it,

and so the science mission is extremely dangerous.

[Brandon P.] Wow, what a crazy supercell.

[dog whimpers]

[Brandon P. speaking]

Something catches my eye on the side of the road.

So I turn around

and I see this corgi. -[dog whimpers]

[Brandon P.] Come on, buddy. Come on, get in.

OK.

Good dog.

Good dog. What's up, buddy?

All right, we got to save this dog.

And now I gotta figure out something to do with this dog,

because we're on the path of a developing tornado

that I know could put down at any moment.

All right, we're gonna get this dog out of harm's way here.

I'm gonna pull into this house real quick.

Come on, baby, come on, baby,

come on, come on, baby, come on.

OK, come on, baby. Come on, baby.

OK, here she goes.

I gotta -- I gotta get back.

An elderly couple answers the door, and they seem so,

like, drawn back that I'm there 'cause I'm frantic.

Thank you so much. Thank you.

But the old man, he's nice enough to take the dog.

And now I have to get back on the storm and figure out what

I'm gonna do from here.

OK.

I'm happy with that. That's cool.

Definitely smells like dog in here now.

All right, it's like right here, guys.

Strong tornado right in front of us.

North Dakota is just getting hammered today.

[siren wails]

[Freddy] Where is it? Do you see anything?

[Eli] To the left.

[Freddy] To the left. Oh, my gosh, dude.

Freaking violent wedge.

Yeah, this thing is absolutely massive, bro.

Got debris fallout here.

It's probably the strongest of the day.

It's clear that this thing is gonna do some really serious

damage if it impacts any structure.

[Freddy] I am blasting north to Sheldon,

and I'm very worried about Sheldon.

All right, flooring it now.

Flooring it now.

These nighttime tornadoes just seem to have

a different temperament.

And in my experience,

oftentimes they will hurt people.

[John] Our blue circle

is our location.

The wind's coming back this way.

[Mike] Just take a look at radar, man.

I don't know what to tell ya.

[John speaking]

[Mike speaking]

I see John McKinney just ahead of me, no more than 100 yards.

[phone ringing]

[Brandon C. speaking]

And unbeknownst to me, a new tornado has formed to

the north and about to cross the road.

[Brandon C. speaking]

[ominous music builds]

[dark chord plays]

[Brandon C. speaking]

Tornado just came through here.

Crossed right in front of me.

Got a car in the ditch right here.

Oh my gosh!

Yep.

Definitely had a tornado come by us right there.

Maybe we'll give a quick look at the dream team here.

The ghostly look.

That's it.

[John] I just drove down here for safety, man.

So I gotta try to drive out.

[Brandon C.] Freddy's dad was in front of me when this tornado crossed,

and his dad freaking threw it into the ditch.

So you can let Freddy know his dad's good

and back up on the road.

I was sticking with him just in case.

You know, God looked after us.

Took care of us.

Wow, this thing is, uh...

This supercell is even incre -- this is just insane.

Today is the best day of my career, by far.

It is gonna take a lot for me to top this.

I wanna get out of the rain, too.

I'd like to try to take some pictures.

Yeah. This is gonna be --

this is gonna be perfect right here.

Come on.

All right, bear with me.

Yeah, I'm about to take the best pictures of my entire

life right here.

Oh, my God, is that a big tornado?

Massive wedge, I think.

I set my camera up, and I can tell that this is the kind of

storm that maybe comes along once in a decade.

And I know that I'm getting incredible shots of it

on my camera.

And so at this point, I know that this is

a career-defining day.

[yells]

I've never had a feeling in my stomach quite like this one.

It's a very dreadful feeling knowing that a big part

of your career is gone.

It's a lot to process in one moment.

[siren wails]

[Eli & Freddy speak]

Whenever you see a tornado of this magnitude,

it's a big deal.

I'm just hoping there's no homes in its path.

[siren continues wailing]

[Freddy speaking]

As Eli and I roll into the scene, a lady comes walking

around this tree.

I didn't --

[Brooke speaking]

[ominous music builds]

-[Freddy speaking] -Yeah.

I make the decision to leave.

This tornado is absolutely massive.

On one hand, I know that Eli and this lady are

gonna be OK.

But...

I honestly don't know what's happening to the guy that

we had to leave behind.

[Brooke] Are you going away from the tornado right now?

[Freddy] Yep.

This is a tornado that you can't screw with.

Alive is OK in this situation, 'cause you could die in

a situation like this. -[Eli] Be alive.

[Freddy] It should be safe for now.

After we deem that we've safely escaped the tornado,

we turn the car around and head back.

[Brooke speaking]

[Freddy] First, we're getting --

we are getting your husband. -We're gonna get your husband.

You guys are our priority right now.

[Eli] Right here?

[Freddy] No, I think it's right here.

Where's he at?

[Brooke speaking]

[Freddy speaking]

[phone ringing]

Uh, yes, I'm a storm chaser here.

I'm just a few miles east of Enderlin.

Got houses that are completely leveled.

There's nothing left. Um.

[Eli speaking]

[Brooke speaking]

-[Freddy] All right. -[Eli speaking]

[dispatcher & Freddy speak]

[Freddy] It's on -- yeah, there you go.

What do you guys need to do?

[Brooke] Go to Enderlin, please.

[Freddy] All right, I think the tornado has lifted.

[Tyler speaking]

OK, so we're -- here we are.

Got an update on, uh,

on Freddy. Freddy and Eli are OK.

They're helping a family,

which sounds good. -[Mike] Yeah.

The ghosts.

-Not the GOATs, the ghosts, OK. -That's right.

[John] Pretty dangerous chase tonight, really.

-You guys are awesome, though. -Thanks, everybody -- yeah.

[rain pattering]

This chase reminds me of how unpredictable tornadoes can be.

And being more of a father-like figure out there, I'm just

feeling a little more blessed that the younger storm chasers

came out of it all right.

[Brandon P.] Whoo! Man, what a chase.

I'm gonna be sick to my stomach about losing that

SD card for quite a while.

You should see how trashed this car is from today.

It's been a hell of a day.

At this point, I'm trying to gather myself.

My career-defining shots are on that SD card

and they're gone forever.

Our science mission, I consider a success because on

that day we had the data set from inside of the tornado,

the wind speed and the thermodynamics.

And that's an important thing to understand

because it's the near-ground and wind speeds that are causing

loss of life and property.

So this is exactly where I was.

This is -- John went in the ditch over here.

We couldn't get through because the power line's over here.

He literally -- these are his tracks coming --

getting out of the ditch. That's crazy.

[Reed] June 20th, 2025 will be one of those days

that people remember forever.

The tornado was upgraded to an EF-5 many months afterward.

The meteorologists had to do forensic work and look for

damage that can support the EF-5 intensity.

That was a historic chase.

Honestly, it was no surprise for the meteorologists

and storm chasers that were covering that event.

We knew because we experienced it on the ground.

All right, so I'm here in Enderlin, North Dakota,

and last night I was shooting a massive wedge tornado

at nighttime.

My SD card ejected out of the camera,

and thought it was gone forever.

But I come out here this morning, and we found it.

I immediately drive to Dollar General in Enderlin.

I buy a mason jar, put some rice in it, and I leave it in

the rice for a day.

All right, moment of truth.

We're about to find out.

[indistinct background chatter]

[woman in background] Hey, Steve?

Long time no see.

-OK. -It's making noise.

It's making noise.

-Oh, wait. -Oh, they're there.

[camera beeps]

[Brandon P.] It's hard for me to put into words...

[camera beeps]

but those pictures to me are one of a kind.

[camera beeps]

But I try not to let the personal triumphs of

my own goals overshadow what happened to the people of

Enderlin that day. It's a very tragic day.