The words 'Dangerous Day Ahead' appeared in the last tweet sent by storm chaser Tim Samaras, just hours before he, his son Paul Samaras and chase partner Carl Young were killed while chasing the El Reno, OK tornado on May 31, 2013. Special recounts the chasing activities of the Samaras team, Weather's Mike Bettes and his Tornado Hunt team, and Juston Drake and Simon Brewer of Weather's Storm Riders, as they followed, recorded and reported on the deadly storm.
The Weather Channel has been moving far beyond its roots, into the digital documentary business. The Real Death Valley is an example of how the channel is showing the effects of climate on the human condition. The documentary, which debuts Aug. 11, is the latest in a series of digital films that “peel back the curtain on the raw forces of nature." This 22-minute installment, reported by John Carlos Frey, is a thought-provoking, often gut-wrenching firsthand POV narrative that traces the journey migrant Central Americans take from the U.S. border around various checkpoints. The hot, humid conditions in Brooks County, Texas—the treacherous gateway between the border and the checkpoint at Falfurrias, Texas—have claimed the lives of scores of those in search of a better life in the U.S.
What starts as a call to the West quickly turns to a deadly journey for three families and their compatriots on a quest for the American Dream. Trapped in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, they fall prey to sub-zero temperatures, torrential rainfalls, floods and ten foot snow drifts, and are eventually forced to turn on each other in order to survive.
The Weather Channel documentary from 1996 profiling five great weather disasters to take place during the 20th Century: Hurricane Hazel in October, 1954, The Ohio/Pennsylvania Tornado Outbreak in June, 1985, The Blizzard of 1978, the Big Thompson River Flood in July, 1976, and the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. Commentators include then-current Weather Channel personalities.
From The Weather Channel in 1993, a short documentary on notable weather events from the previous century, including the 1888 New York City Blizzard, Superstorm '93, the 1889, 1936 and 1977 Johnstown Floods, Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and the Florida Keys Hurricane of 1936.