1996’s Twister was so influential on modern media that it resulted in REAL meteorological teams competing with each other on reality television to build actual devices designed to be driven into a tornado with probes to study the funnels and get “extreme footage”. 
These BEHEMOTHS were unlike the airbrushed vans of Twister, more akin to Pacific Rim Battle Bot tanks that could literally anchor themselves into the ground so a tornado could pass over them, allowing them a peek inside the wind funnel unobscured by Bill Paxton’s legs.
Twister was the first domino in a long line of America’s fascination with extreme weather, and as we got hungrier for extreme weather entertainment, extreme weather devastation came knocking with 1997’s El Niño, the mega weather event that changed the world.
El Niño dominated the TV news space for close to two years, as coverage of the weather phenomenon spilled over onto the newly blossoming public internet space.
For the first time ever you could access highly detailed local weather data in minutes.
For the first time ever you could access highly detailed local weather data in minutes.
It wasn’t long before the Weather Channel’s demand for content pushed them from a basic cable service into a full time news network with a full line up of talking head content and extreme weather reports.
By 2002 they had relocated to a full time studio in Atlanta.
By 2002 they had relocated to a full time studio in Atlanta.
By the mid 2000s a big shift had started to occur on educational programming like Discovery Channel to a more reality tv approach to science.
Storm chasers was a huge hit at first but quickly fell victim to reality tv tropes and it became more about drama then weather.
Storm chasers was a huge hit at first but quickly fell victim to reality tv tropes and it became more about drama then weather.
The Weather Channel, not to be outdone, began producing their own reality TV, in addition to breaking away from forecasts to air weather related movies like ‘The Perfect Storm’ during Friday prime time.
The shows tried hard to stay scientific and leave out the drama. TRIED.
The shows tried hard to stay scientific and leave out the drama. TRIED.
Today, in an age of science denial, it’s easy to see how the dramatization of real science through something as simple as weather tv can trivialize the dangers of the climate, making it a supernatural force out of our control, or maybe not to be taken seriously at all.
Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.
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