He is a met for kfor and a very good chaser been around for awhile. He also reported May 3 1999 and was just as close then. So he has witnessed mass destruction on a very large scale. Wouldnt you freak out a little bit to if the storm your on is in a very populated area ? And you have already been down that same road on may 3 ! David Payne is the best in the business IMO! Been chasing a long time for KFOR . So maybe not your type of a "phoner" but I bet people were in the storm shelter. He has saved many of lives over the years ...What have you done lately??? Check this out
"Oklahoma's NewsChannel 4's David Payne
Fourth generation Oklahoman, David Payne is a National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Emmy Award winning meteorologist with a total of five Emmy wins and ten nominations. David has been Oklahoma's NewsChannel 4's weekday morning and noon meteorologist for over a decade. He joined the 4 Warn Storm Team in 1993 from KTUL in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
During the devastating tornadoes of May 3rd, 1999, viewers around the world glimpsed heart-stopping images of David reporting live in front of that mammoth tornado. It is the only F5 to hit the Oklahoma City metro area. Governor Keating in a public ceremony recognized David and the 4 Warn Storm Team for their severe weather coverage. The Emmy, as well as two nominations, was awarded to David and his photojournalist Marc Dillard.
A video recording made of May 3rd's tornadoes was lost, attributed to the chaos and mayhem surrounding the day's events. In 2005, seven years later, the tape was discovered in a shelved box. The tape revealed thrilling footage of David's chase car pursuing the enormous storm. David received an Emmy nomination for his reporting, which were recorded on the "lost tape."
David's coverage of the May 8th, 2003, Moore, Oklahoma, tornado earned him an Emmy Award along with two Emmy nominations. This storm, in a freakish sequence, was the second to hit the Moore community within five years and followed roughly the same path as the previous one.
David was selected by the National Association of Broadcasters in 2003 to speak at their conference on Serving Communities In Crisis, held at the Reagan Center in Washington D.C. He spoke on the topics of storm tracking and covering severe weather in Oklahoma. David has appeared on national television, as well as interviewed in national newspapers and magazines.
In April 2005, the Oklahoma House of Representatives honored David and the 4 Warn Storm Team by passing House Resolution 1018 which extended its appreciation and thanks to for the 4 Warn Storm Team and their investment in the safety of the people of Oklahoma.
In spring of 2006, David waited and watched as storms developed west of Oklahoma City, near El Reno. Several tornadoes appeared before his eyes, one, a rare anticyclonic with a clockwise motion. Driving over 500 miles that day, David's coverage brought him two Emmy Awards and three Emmy nominations.
The spring of 2007 in Oklahoma was a very active year, full of severe weather including tornadoes. David's coverage of the Sweetwater, Oklahoma tornado on May 5th, 2007 earned him two additional Emmy nominations.
At the end of 2007 David received a National Emmy for his severe weather coverage for the El Reno, Oklahoma tornadoes from 2006. This was the first time in over thirty years a National Emmy had been given to anyone in Oklahoma.
David holds the seal of the National Weather Association and the American Meteorological Society and has been recognized numerous times by the Associated Press and the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters for his severe weather coverage, including tracking tornadoes.
David has under his belt nearly twenty years of experience tracking tornadoes. He has seen several hundred, including a backward rotating one, which is, in fact, the world's record for the longest anticyclonic (backward spinning tornado) ever caught on tape.
David's Oklahoma roots run deep. His family still owns land acquired during the Oklahoma Land Run of 1895. A graduate of the University of Oklahoma with a Bachelor of Science degree, David Payne enjoys speaking to schools and organizations about weather. His hobbies include fishing, golfing, water skiing, gardening, bird watching, and of course, tornado chasing. David, his wife Julie, and their daughter reside in Edmond."
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