29 Facts About Reed Timmer

Reed Timmer is known for starring in the Discovery Channel reality television series Storm Chasers, as well as in the documentary film Tornado Glory and in the television series Tornado Chasers.

Reed Timmer later appeared as a guest star in Jay Leno's Garage in an episode, and Storm Rising as himself with Mike Theiss, another storm chaser.

Reed Timmer was born on March 17,1980, in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Reed Timmer has an older and younger sister, and his parents divorced when he was 10 years old.

Reed Timmer took an interest in science at a young age, including insects and weather, and was often bullied because of it.

Reed Timmer played the oboe, which he had a music scholarship in, and watched The Weather Channel continuously.

Reed Timmer experienced a hailstorm at the age of 13, which he called his "first storm chase", and resulted in his family's video camera being destroyed after attempting to capture it.

Reed Timmer presented weather forecasts at his high school in Grand Rapids, Forest Hills Central, while participating in the Science Olympiad competition in both middle school and high school.

Reed Timmer became an Eagle Scout in 1995, the highest rank of a Boy Scout.

In 1998, after graduating from his high school, Reed Timmer began studying meteorology at the University of Oklahoma.

Reed Timmer completed his PhD in 2015, at the age of 35.

On October 4,1998, Reed Timmer filmed his first tornado in Perry, Oklahoma, which he recalled that the tornado "didn't feel like it could kill me, but I was mesmerized".

The F5 tornado was ultimately recorded as one of the strongest tornadoes ever, with Reed Timmer characterizing it as "overwhelming".

In 2003, Reed Timmer intercepted an F4 tornado in South Dakota, associated with a larger statewide tornado outbreak, that directly impacted Manchester, South Dakota.

In 2005, Reed Timmer both chased a tornado east of Madelia, Minnesota, and Hurricane Katrina, with the latter event's flooding and storm surge he described as "intimidating".

Reed Timmer starred in the documentary film Tornado Glory in 2006, along with Joel Taylor, who was another Oklahoma University meteorology student and storm chaser who was Reed Timmer's friend.

Reed Timmer starred in the aforementioned television series, continuing into the next season of it as well.

On June 5,2009, Reed Timmer filmed inside a tornado near LaGrange, Wyoming in Dominator 1, recording a wind speed of 155.2 miles per hour.

Reed Timmer then chased an EF2 tornado near Aurora, Nebraska twelve days later, where a vortex inside the tornado blew out a window of the vehicle he was in, resulting in Timmer and photographer Chris Chittick suffering lacerations to his face.

Additionally, he recorded a wind speed of 138.8 miles per hour, and the tornado, along with Reed Timmer's chase, were included in a Storm Chasers episode.

Reed Timmer chased an EF4 tornado that struck Yazoo City, Mississippi on April 24,2010, where he and Joel Taylor conducted efforts to rescue victims in the aftermath of the tornado.

Reed Timmer later stated that it was "definitely one of the biggest tornadoes I've ever seen".

In 2015, Reed Timmer chased an EF2 tornado, with his mother, as part of a Mother's Day gift.

In 2016, Reed Timmer filmed a photogenic EF2 tornado near Wray, Colorado on May 7, that went viral, garnering nearly 43 million views as of May 2021.

In November, Reed Timmer joined AccuWeather, covering severe weather until 2019.

That same year, Reed Timmer chased several natural disasters, including Hurricane Michael and a tornado in Federal, Wyoming, the latter event of which he recalled seeing "cows flying through the air".

In 2022, while inside the eyewall of Hurricane Ian, Reed Timmer filmed videos of the storm surge on Pine Island, which significantly damaged his vehicle, Dominator Fore, a modified 2018 Subaru Forester.

In December 2015, Reed Timmer married meteorologist Maria Molina at the Masaya Volcano National Park in Nicaragua.

Reed Timmer has a dog named Gizmo who often accompanies him on chases.