Carl Young

Although Young was originally from California, he was reported to the Midwestern United States in 2000 after a spell working on Hollywood film crews. He decided to take off on a two month storm chasing adventure in the Great Plains hoping to catch a glimpse of a few tornadoes but ended up with over a dozen supercell thunderstorm encounters. His experience with the raw force of nature in Nebraska was unlike any pyrotechnic display on a high-tech Hollywood set. This inspiration led him to the study of tornado dynamics and ultimately a masters degree in atmospheric science from the University of Nevada in Reno. While attending a meteorological conference, Young met Tim Samaras who encouraged him to collect meteorological data from inside tornadoes as the principal focus of his thesis research. Every spring since 2003, Young headed out with Samaras, and together the team tracked down over one hundred and twenty-five tornadoes. His finest moment came on June 11, 2004 near Storm Lake, Iowa. While working with Samaras, they defied the odds and deployed their probes right in the path of a tornado. The six-camera video probe captured amazing footage from multiple angles while the sensor probe recorded data that revealed just how fast wind speeds are close to the ground. Young remained eternally optimistic that they could repeat the same feat despite the huge challenges for successful deployments until his tragic death.