Entertainment Tonight called them ‘thrill-seeking women who come
face-to-face with raging death on a daily basis.’ But Melanie Metz and
Peggy Willenberg, aka the Twister Sisters, prefer to think of themselves
as scientists who chase and photograph tornadoes in order to raise
public awareness of severe weather, document the fleeting beauty of
storms and satisfy their life-long fascination with atmospheric
phenomenon. Along the way, the Minneapolis-based duo also challenge
gender stereotypes in the male-dominated world of storm chasing and lend
a helping hand to people or animals in distress.
 The
Twister Sisters
both have degrees in the physical sciences and are pursuing secondary
degrees in meteorology. Metz has a day job in quality control at an
environmental testing company. Willenberg lives in Plymouth, Minnesota
with her husband and daughter in a home with a huge weather station on
the roof. Related by their passion for tornadoes rather than by common
parentage, they met through an Internet discussion group devoted to
severe weather. The catchy name that (along with their skill and
dedication) has helped the Twister Sisters achieve recognition in their
field was first suggested by chase partner Andy Revering to reflect
their closeness and their preference for tornadoes above all other types
of storms.
“The absolute perfection of the atmosphere at the time it produces
tornadoes appeals to both of us because we’re both perfectionists,” says Willenberg. “Photography comes into play because any severe storm, and
especially a tornado, lasts only a brief moment in time and is never
repeated. They’re extremely beautiful even though it’s a terrible
beauty. We want to capture the vivid coloration and the perfect
geometry of these incredible creations that come and go and are gone
forever. We want to share what we are privileged to see but other
people aren’t.
The Twister Sisters report on severe weather for FOX news in
Minneapolis. They teach Skywarn classes to educate the public, have
presented case studies at storm chasing conventions and been interviewed
on national TV programs such as Good Morning America, and Entertainment
Tonight. Video from their chases has also been aired on NBC, CNN, The
Weather Channel, and National Geographic Television. In previous years,
they guided storm-chasing tours but gave that up in 2006 and were glad
they did because the first part of this season was a bust for tornado hunters. Some
tours were out in the field for all of May and most of June without
spotting a single twister.
But just when storm chasers were concluding that 2006 was a total loss,
mother nature uncorked a burst of violent weather near the end of
tornado season.
“We’re in the unique situation of getting to do what we love to do
and actually making some money from it,” says Willenberg. “Storm
chasing is a special sort of job. It sounds adventurous, exciting,
thrilling, like skydiving. But, really, tornado chasing is a secondary
application of weather forecasting. To see a tornado, you have to know
where to find one, and that’s a difficult proposition. Tornadoes don’t
always occur conveniently close to home. As we’ve learned to forecast
and understand the atmosphere, we’ve become more successful at tracking
and catching up with tornadoes.”
Out on the road, the Twister Sisters perform defined roles that
increase their efficiency. “We feel that the two of us as a team are
more effective than either one alone,” says Willenberg. “We assign
ourselves duties before and during a chase. My duty is the truck. I
drive our Chevy Suburban because I know it really well, and we’re
sometimes in extremely difficult conditions, including heavy horizontal
rain, standing water, big hail and high winds. My job is to get us to
the site safely.”
Their vehicle is equipped with an impressive array of storm-chasing
gear including a dual-band ham radio, mobile lightning detection, two
GPS navigation units and laptops with Internet access for real-time
forecasts on the road. They also have a dashboard mount for their
broadcast-quality video camera, a Sony VX-2000. This year, they added a
satellite radar system that allows them to access Mobile Threat Net via
XM radio.
 “Using this product has revolutionized chasing for us,” says
Willenberg. “Before, when we couldn’t access the Internet via cell
phone, we had to try to make phone calls to someone at home with a
computer. Now we can function completely independently in the field.
We started using it after we nearly drove into a two and a half mile
wide tornado in the middle of the night in Nebraska.”
Metz concentrates on photography, weather-tracking and navigation
while Willenberg drives. Sometimes Metz also points out obstacles like
a herd of black cows blocking the road in the middle of a stormy night.
When the car stops, both Twister Sisters jump out and start shooting.
They set the video camera on a tripod and leave it running while they
shoot stills. Metz uses a couple of different cameras. Her first
choice is a Nikon D-100 digital SLR with three interchangeable lenses
ranging from 20mm wide angle to 70 - 300mm zoom. Both Metz and
Willenberg also use Olympus C-5050 point-and-shoot cameras, which they
find sharp and efficient.
“The 35-50mm on the Nikon is what I use most,” says Metz. “It
depends on the sky. If we get close, I might need a wide angle. It can
be very beautiful to see the whole structure of the storm. If it’s a
tornado, we try to get a couple of shots that show the connection of the
twister to the whole storm. I try to mix it up. I’ll switch lenses. I
know other chasers have a couple of camera bodies so they can keep the
zoom on one body and the wide angle on the other. So far, I haven’t
done that. It’s not always the camera that makes the shots.”
Among the reasons that the Twister Sisters stand out in their field
is the fact that most storm-chasers and meteorologists are men. While
well-aware of the imbalance, the sisters don’t view it as an example of
discrimination or an impediment to their work. “Both Peggy and I are
the type of people who kind of plough forward and do what we want and
don’t let things get in way,” says Metz. “The prevalence of men in
storm chasing is probably a reflection of the fact that there are
generally more men than women in the physical sciences. The physics and
math of meteorology are perceived as difficult. We do know other women
who chase, and we see them in the field. But they’re often the partners
of men who are more serious. Peggy and I have gotten the most involved
of any women I’ve seen. Maybe we’re just crazy women.”
So how did they get so involved? For both of the Twister Sisters,
curiosity about severe weather has been part of their lives since early
childhood. Willenberg has been a weather watcher for as long as she can
remember. “Growing up in Indiana,” she says, “there were plenty of
storms, and every time my parents would try to get me into our basement,
I would sneak out for a look at the action! I started chasing as soon as
I could drive, and my fascination continues to grow with each year.”
 Metz grew up in Arizona, which has no tornadoes but frequent
lightning storms. “I just loved lightning,” she says. “And as a child,
I remember reading about tornadoes and hurricanes. I was fascinated,
curious. They were scary but I wanted to see one. That’s something
I’ve heard from a lot of people who are passionate about severe
weather. They were just born that way. The science behind tornadoes is
also fascinating. It’s challenging, dynamic, always different. Peggy
feels the same way. We both have scientific minds so we are challenged
by the forecasting aspect of it. We love to be out on road and under
the open sky. We also like to celebrate a successful chase over a good
glass of wine.”
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of two women who track
tornadoes.