Storm chasers honour "Twister" star with GPS tribute
Nearly 200 storm chasers paid tribute Sunday to the late actor Bill Paxton by spelling out his initials using GPS co-ordinates on a map depicting the heart of Tornado Alley.
The effort co-ordinated by Spotter Network spelled out “BP” to honour the leading man in the disaster movie “Twister,” which inspired a generation of storm chasers.
Storm chasers and storm spotters have spelled out the initials of fellow chasers in the tight-knit community four or five times before, but never for a non-chaser, said John Wetter, president of the non-profit that tracks the positions of tornado chasers and works with the National Weather Service to update weather forecasts.
“There are probably hundreds, if not thousands, of meteorologists today — myself included — who were impacted by the movie ‘Twister’ and the role Bill played in that,” Wetter told The Associated Press in a phone interview. ” ‘Twister’ was kind of the first time in a mass media place the meteorologist became cool, if only for a little while.”