In the 10 years he has been chasing and documenting dangerous storms, Tyler Costantini has seen almost all there is to see.
But if things go as planned, this storm season may provide the Pittsburg resident a first in his weather-chasing career.
Costantini, an associate storm chaser with Severe Studios, was one of two Severe Studios storm chasers who have agreed to document the weather-related dealings of Steve Green, a former NASCAR driver who built a car capable of driving into a tornado. Green, who also dabbled in professional golf, gained national attention in 2004 when he drove his "Tornado Attack One" into an F-3 tornado in Mulvane.
Green said he hopes to perform the feat again "this week." If or when it does happen again, Costantini will likely be there to film it.
"We'll be there to cover him," Costantini said. "We provide live streaming video from the field and can do a live broadcast of him going into the tornado."
Green said he spent more than $500,000 building what has been described as a "tornado proof" vehicle. A special hydraulic system plants his seemingly armored vehicle firmly to the ground, allowing no air underneath it, thus removing any risk of being picked up by a tornado.
Green, who has been interested in tornadoes since he was a teenager, said he wanted to drive into a tornado for one simple reason.
"It had never been done," he said. "We don't do things like that anymore in this country. We went to the moon, but then what did we do?"
But there are other motives behind his risky mission. By gathering information from inside a tornado, Green hopes to expand upon what science already knows about tornadoes, including how to predict them.
"There is a lot to learn from being inside a tornado," he said. "The amount of data we can gather and collect is almost endless."
Costantini, who is pursuing a meteorology degree, said the tornado alarm system could be vastly improved with the proper information — data he said could be collected with Green's system.
"It could go a long way to reducing false alarms," he said. "False alarms are killers. It becomes the cry wolf syndrome. Steve certainly has a nice ride. It's got the capabilities and he certainly has the right ideas. He has the instrumentation that allows us to get so much more than just video from the tornado."
Costantini is teaming up with Andy Gabriel, also of Severe Studios, to follow Green on his tornado adventures.
"They hooked me up with these guys because they do live streaming video," Green said. "And if you can see this with your own eyes, it probably really happened."
When he's not trying to drive into tornadoes, Green operates a NASCAR driving school in Ohio. He also spends a lot of time devising energy plans that he said could "save the planet."
Green said he is motivated to perform great tasks by the many people in his past who told him he couldn't.
"They told me I couldn't be a pro golfer, but I did that," he said. "They told me I couldn't drive in NASCAR, but I did that. Of course, they told me I'd never drive into a tornado. But guess what, I did it.
"Life is an adventure for me," he said. "I want to do as much as possible."
If that includes driving into a violent cyclone of swirling winds, Costantini said he'll be there to provide the evidence.
"It's exciting," he said. "We certainly will be there."
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In the 10 years he has been chasing and documenting dangerous storms, Tyler Costantini has seen almost all there is to see.
But if things go as planned, this storm season may provide the Pittsburg resident a first in his weather-chasing career.
Costantini, an associate storm chaser with Severe Studios, was one of two Severe Studios storm chasers who have agreed to document the weather-related dealings of Steve Green, a former NASCAR driver who built a car capable of driving into a tornado. Green, who also dabbled in professional golf, gained national attention in 2004 when he drove his "Tornado Attack One" into an F-3 tornado in Mulvane.
Green said he hopes to perform the feat again "this week." If or when it does happen again, Costantini will likely be there to film it.
"We'll be there to cover him," Costantini said. "We provide live streaming video from the field and can do a live broadcast of him going into the tornado."
Green said he spent more than $500,000 building what has been described as a "tornado proof" vehicle. A special hydraulic system plants his seemingly armored vehicle firmly to the ground, allowing no air underneath it, thus removing any risk of being picked up by a tornado.
Green, who has been interested in tornadoes since he was a teenager, said he wanted to drive into a tornado for one simple reason.
"It had never been done," he said. "We don't do things like that anymore in this country. We went to the moon, but then what did we do?"
But there are other motives behind his risky mission. By gathering information from inside a tornado, Green hopes to expand upon what science already knows about tornadoes, including how to predict them.
"There is a lot to learn from being inside a tornado," he said. "The amount of data we can gather and collect is almost endless."
Costantini, who is pursuing a meteorology degree, said the tornado alarm system could be vastly improved with the proper information — data he said could be collected with Green's system.
"It could go a long way to reducing false alarms," he said. "False alarms are killers. It becomes the cry wolf syndrome. Steve certainly has a nice ride. It's got the capabilities and he certainly has the right ideas. He has the instrumentation that allows us to get so much more than just video from the tornado."
Costantini is teaming up with Andy Gabriel, also of Severe Studios, to follow Green on his tornado adventures.
"They hooked me up with these guys because they do live streaming video," Green said. "And if you can see this with your own eyes, it probably really happened."
When he's not trying to drive into tornadoes, Green operates a NASCAR driving school in Ohio. He also spends a lot of time devising energy plans that he said could "save the planet."
Green said he is motivated to perform great tasks by the many people in his past who told him he couldn't.
"They told me I couldn't be a pro golfer, but I did that," he said. "They told me I couldn't drive in NASCAR, but I did that. Of course, they told me I'd never drive into a tornado. But guess what, I did it.
"Life is an adventure for me," he said. "I want to do as much as possible."
If that includes driving into a violent cyclone of swirling winds, Costantini said he'll be there to provide the evidence.
"It's exciting," he said. "We certainly will be there."
