Category 6 coming in 2021!

[rdale]

‘Category 6’ Uses Technology And Adrenaline To Research Extreme Weather Trends

In the wake of Hurricane Hanna making landfall in Texas a week ago, and with Tropical Storm Isaias threatening the East Coast of the United States, Nat Geo is launching “Category 6”—a new show focused on investigating extreme weather patterns and researching why these weather events seem to be ge...

www.forbes.com

 

[Warren Faidley]

Can't wait for the ground breaking "investigative research" that will no doubt save many lives.

 

[Marc R. O'Leary]

Can't wait for the ground breaking "investigative research" that will no doubt save many lives.

Wow! I felt that sarcasm all the way up here in CO. LOL

 

[Jeff Duda]

Bleh. I closed the article as soon as it said Reed Timmer was going to be the talent on the show.

 

[Warren Faidley]

I have to say I have nothing against Timmer personally. He seems like a nice enough guy and he's no doubt the most aggressive and successful commerical / PR chaser since I had my limelight in the 1990's. We do share that. I also respect the fact that he earned a PhD in meteorology, which is impressive. I think people sometimes misinterpret my opinions regarding participation in such shows as a personal attack, but that is not true.

This is why I almost always put the blame fully on production companies, not the participants. The production companies should know the difference between Jackass Show-style antics vs. constructive research by devoted professionals, backed up by institutions and legitimate endeavors, e.g., VORTEX and NCAR projects. They encourage extreme chasing because the average viewer thinks that is what chasing is about. Driving your vehicle into a dangerous hailcore or cruzing though a tornadic circulation for social media shi_ts and giggles is not science. Shame on National Geographic if they do end-up presenting any such stunts to the public as some form of legitimate scientific pursuit.

I will however, offer the same advise to National Geographic that I did to the TWC: These stunts could get someone killed or seriously injured.

 

[Mark Blue]

Reed & Co. better hope the updated hurricane forecast for the Atlantic season holds water because the plains chasing this year was hit or miss as far as documentary-quality material is concerned. Canada chasing was decent this year but inaccessible due to the pandemic and closure of the border. It’s a wait and see approach for me right now. Thanks for clarifying Warren, we appreciate it.

 

[Warren Faidley]

Yes, I can only imagine they will have to use a lot of third party / stock footage to make the show work, including the Campo-grade tube in Canada yesterday. (8-7). I'm really surprised NG would risk a crew going out (e.g., flying) during COVID and I wonder if they will receive any backlash? I do believe any production crew covering a Cat 4+ had better be very careful and use their own common sense / avoid being put in a bad situation for drama.

I had a Discovery crew following me during Frances in 2004 on Juno Beach, FL and they nearly drowned after being swept out into the ocean. I told them multiple times NOT to follow me into the storm surge because a: I'm nuts, and b: I had a flotation device. They did not listen and I turned to see them go completely under the waves. They were lucky to live but destroyed a $250,000 rental camera. The picture below was taken just seconds before they were swept away by the surge and off-shore gusts. I only mention this in hopes news / production crews will develop break points as to how far they will go in order to cover aggressive chasers.

 

[Joey Prom]

Reed Timmer in 4k... Also, who is this other guy?

 

[James K]

Could be an interesting show (or atleast there'd be the cool-ness of the storms.)
Obviously won't be watching it though since I don't have cable or satellite.

 

[rdale]

Many streaming services carry this channel.

 

[Mark Blue]

Reed Timmer in 4k... Also, who is this other guy?

Mike Theiss? He’s a long-standing chaser with plenty of experience. I don’t know him personally but I’ve heard nothing but good things about him.

 

[Todd Lemery]

I’ll be watching. I still miss the days of Discovery Channel’s Storm Chasers series....

 

[Michael Towers]

I’ll be watching. I still miss the days of Discovery Channel’s Storm Chasers series....

A lot of folks knocked that show but I enjoyed it much the same I do anything related to severe weather. As for Timmer he’s a polarizing figure and while I’m not a big fan of histrionics he’s a damn good chaser who’s been able to parlay his passion into fame and some degree of fortune. Kudos to him for living his dream and maybe someday in addition to his fame as a chaser he’ll gain more recognition as a scientist as well. As for the new show sounds like it might at least have some entertainment value, I’ll give it a watch.

 

[rdale]

he’ll gain more recognition as a scientist as well

i'm guessing he'd have to publish some science first before looking for more recognition... I enjoyed the old series too - but it's been a good number of years and he still hasn't published any of the radar or rocket data that was promised.

 

[S Klein]

Bleh. I closed the article as soon as it said Reed Timmer was going to be the talent on the show.

And all I had to do was read your comment to realize it's probably not something for me lol

I have to say I have nothing against Timmer personally. He seems like a nice enough guy and he's no doubt the most aggressive and successful commerical / PR chaser since I had my limelight in the 1990's. We do share that. I also respect the fact that he earned a PhD in meteorology, which is impressive. I think people sometimes misinterpret my opinions regarding participation in such shows as a personal attack, but that is not true.

Timmer may have a PhD, but he hasn't really contributed anything beyond what the community of spotters has already been contributing for ages. Tim Samaras was a better meteorologist than Reed, and he didn't even have a degree in meteorology. He didn't even build the rocket he launched in Kansas, someone else did, and arguably the TIV isn't much more impressive than a rich high school kid's tuner car, and I'm not even sure he contributed to that. He literally does this to brag about living in Twister, he named the rocket Dorthy for f*'s sake, and as someone who saw an actual tornado before I saw that movie I find it rather insulting and irritating, and he's emulating Jonas of all characters he could want to be. I don't care if you hold 16 PhDs, it doesn't give you the right to be a narcissist; if he was really that good of a chaser he wouldn't need to secure outside funding to chase full time and yet still manage to capture proportionally far fewer tornadoes than the hobbyists who chase a few times per year. Reed is a washed up Reality TV star who got a degree to appear more classy and intellectual. He's obviously good at promoting himself, and I'll give him credit that that is a talent of its own, but I will never be able to take him seriously as a "scientist."

i'm guessing he'd have to publish some science first before looking for more recognition... I enjoyed the old series too - but it's been a good number of years and he still hasn't published any of the radar or rocket data that was promised.

I will give credit where it is due, he did publish some of the raw data on Twitter. He put in hard work tweeting the data Mark Simpson recovered off the rocket he built himself after Matthew DuBois recovered the rocket