Tim Samaras
| Tim Samaras | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born |
November 12, 1957 Lakewood, Colorado, U.S. |
| Died | May 31, 2013 (aged 55) El Reno, Oklahoma, U.S. Tornado incident |
| Fields | Engineering, meteorology |
| Institutions | Applied Research Associates |
| Known for | Tornado field research |
| Spouse | Kathy Samaras |
| Children | Paul Samaras (deceased) Amy Gregg Jennifer Scott Matt Winter |
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Website thunderchase |
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Timothy Michael Samaras (November 12, 1957 – May 31, 2013) was an American engineer and storm chaser best known for his field research on tornadoes and time on the Discovery Channel show, Storm Chasers.
Samaras was born November 12, 1957 in Lakewood, Colorado, to Paul T. and Margaret L. Samaras. Paul (1925-2005) was a photographer and model airplane distributor who was an Army projectionist in WWII. Tim assisted in the photography and shop work. Margaret was born in 1926 and died in 2006. His mother talked him into watching an annual television broadcast of The Wizard of Oz at age six. "When the tornado appeared," he recalled. "I was hooked!" It was the scene where the sky was black and got darker. The hens began to go around in circles and the horses ran out of the barn. Aunt Em, Uncle Henry, and their three farmworkers were shouting as well as clutching on to their hats. Bundles of weeds blew past, then whole small trees. A wide black swirling column loomed on the horizon. It howled like an express train. Dorothy and Toto struggled to get through the gate. But no sooner were they safe in the farmhouse when the window fell in, and the entire house took off into that storm, tumbling through the inky clouds. He attended Lasley Elementary and O'Connell Junior High in Lakewood, before graduating from Alameda High School in 1976. In his twenties, he began to chase storms "not for the thrill, but the science."
Samaras was an autodidact who never received a college degree. He became an amateur radio operator at age 12 and built transmitters using old television sets. As an adult he held an Amateur Extra Class license, the highest amateur radio class issued in the United States, and was proficient in Morse code. He used ham radio for communications when storm chasing and was also a storm spotter, reporting sightings of hazardous weather. At 16, he was a radio technician and was service shop foreman at 17. Immediately out of high school and without a résumé, he was hired as a walk in at the University of Denver Research Institute. He obtained a Pentagon security clearance by 20, testing and building weapons systems.
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