Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Tornado Intercept Vehicle 2 or TIV-2




If you see one of these vehicles in your neighborhood you know there is bad weather. This is a Tornado Intercept Vehicle 2, known as TIV-2, built by Sean Casey for the Weather Channel's series Storm Chasers. It is based on a Dodge Ram 3500 with a Cummins Diesel engine capable of powering this tank over 100 miles per hour. With a fuel capacity of 95 gallons it can travel over 750 miles non-stop. The side and front panels are hydraulically lowered to the ground to direct wind over the top of the vehicle. The turret is used to make IMAX movies of tornados.

This vehicle's crew was having dinner at a local restaurant while they were chasing tornados. There was a killer tornado about 25 miles north of here which took the life of a women in a trailer. The storms dumped about 2.7 inches of rain on us in 24 hours while neighboring towns received much more. 
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8 comments:

  1. NancyJune 25, 2013 at 6:22 AM

    Glad you are okay my friend. My son saw this same vehicle in Nebraska during a bad weather spell. :)

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    1. Taken For GrantedJune 25, 2013 at 8:36 AM

      We do live with interesting, or terrifying weather.

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  2. LowellJune 25, 2013 at 7:14 AM

    That's quite a machine. I've not seen one before. Most of the tornado chasers have been in regular TV vans, which, of course, the tornado blows into the next county.

    Sorry about your weather...any miles is too close when it comes to tornadoes. The worst thing about our hurricanes is that they create tornadoes.

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    1. Taken For GrantedJune 25, 2013 at 8:42 AM

      There are only two of these, TIV-1 and TIV-2 pictured above. If you see one of these, run for safety. Tornadoes in a hurricane? That's just adding insult to injury.

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  3. Taken For GrantedJune 25, 2013 at 8:35 AM

    Know just what you mean. They are just looking for trouble. They do try to stay about a mile away from a tornado, but sometimes that's not possible.

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  4. This is BelgiumJune 25, 2013 at 11:13 AM

    I had no ideas that machines like this existed.. interesting. I have seen a movie about a tornado chaser but his means were more basic

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  5. JackJune 25, 2013 at 10:02 PM

    The central part of the country has been having a bad run with tornadoes this year, hasn't it?

    I am with Birdman and you. Storm chasing is not my thing.

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  6. AndyJune 29, 2013 at 4:30 AM

    I guess I'm one of the lucky ones... I haven't seen any of these vehicles in my neighbourhood.

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