My Facebook feed exploded yesterday once news of actor Bill Paxton’s demise following heart surgery was made public. Bill Paxton was a well-regarded character actor who was in many famous films, including “Alien” and “Titanic” and in the HBO series “Big Love.” (Interestingly, he was in Dallas and saw President Kennedy earlier in the day he was assassinated, which I had not heard before.) But for many meteorologists, his most famous role was as the main character/storm chaser in the movie “Twister.” The movie was influential in interesting thousands of kids in the weather, and many of them went on to become meteorologists in their own right. Here is a column by television meteorologist Don Paul about “Twister” and the state of tornado chasing.
I got interested in the weather when a tornado came 2 blocks from my house in Michigan when I was in the 3rd grade and my meteorologist husband when a tornado went over his family’s house in Birmingham. If you are interested in the weather, what sparked your interest? You can read more stories about Bill Paxton and “Twister” and its influence on meteorologist in this Forbes column by Dr. Marshall Shepherd here.
