Storm Rising

National Geographic Unleashes Mother Nature’s wrath in a new five-part documentary series: Storm Rising.

From Lucky 8 and Cambrian Creative, storm-chaser and meteorologist Dr Reed Timmer heads into the world’s deadliest storms to gather data, to better understand how they’re evolving in the changing global climate.

STORM RISING premieres on National Geographic on 23 September.

JOHANNESBURG, 16 September 2021: Has extreme weather around the globe reached a new category of intensity? Storms are stronger than ever before, and they’re causing unprecedented destruction. Scientists want to understand why and find out how much worse it can get. National Geographic, Lucky 8 and Cambrian Creative partnered on STORM RISING, a high-adrenaline ride-along series. Reed Timmer, and storm expert Mike Theiss, track down extreme weather events, collect data and barely make it out of harm’s way. STORM RISING will premiere on National Geographic (channel 220) on Thursdays at 9 PM from 23 September 2021.

Intercepting deadly storms to gather measurements takes a special breed. For meteorologist and storm chaser Reed Timmer, chasing dangerous weather is a lifelong obsession. In STORM RISING, viewers will follow Timmer inside monster storms to capture vital data and reveal Mother Nature’s dark side. Follow along as Timmer and his partner race to intercept headline-making weather events and deploy both high-tech and improvised instruments into the heart of the storm. In the heat of the chase, our cameras will capture the team pushing to their limits and experiencing these epic storms up close. There are high-stakes decisions at every turn, but the data could help improve warning times and save lives.

Timmer’s partner is storm expert Mike Theiss. With decades of experience in chasing hurricanes, Theiss grounds the team in safety and logistics and brings additional tropical cyclone expertise. The team’s mission is to deploy an arsenal of tech to collect data on these monster storms. It gets done from Theiss’ Hurricane Eyewall Research Vehicle (HERV), built to penetrate the eye of a hurricane so it can measure wind speeds and barometric pressure, to a ground probe that gets dropped directly in the path of a tornado. Timmer and Theiss also have special equipment that can record footage and track the rise of massive storm surges or capture data remotely from hard-to-reach stretches of coastline.

Episodes include:

Episode 101 – New Breed of Storms

An early hurricane season collides with an unpredictable tornado season, which may be the latest sign of a dangerous new climate regime as record-breaking Tropical Storm Cristobal moves into Tornado Alley. Reed and Mike race into the chaos to deploy scientific instruments inside a tornado outbreak to contribute valuable data to our overall understanding of deadly storms.

Episode 102 – High Plains Insanity

Climate change has forced Tornado Alley further north into the Northern High Plains. To cover the final days of a bizarre tornado season and a tropical system in Florida, Reed and Mike divide their efforts to chase them both. Will a series of missteps cause the guys to miss two intercepts instead of one? Or will they get a final chance at redemption before the season comes to a close?

Episode 103 – Hurricane Double Threat

A record-breaking Atlantic hurricane season presents a unique challenge for Reed and Mike as they race to intercept and collect data inside two hurricanes projected to make landfall on the US Gulf Coast back-to-back. An unprecedented event, but as hurricanes have become more frequent in recent years, this could be a glimpse of the new normal.

Episode 104 – Overnight Disaster

Wildfires, a snowstorm and a hurricane cross paths in a stunning period of extreme weather events across the US. Reed and Mike gear up to collect data inside Hurricane Sally in an attempt to uncover evidence of how a volatile climate may be shaping the new, more deadly breed of slow-moving storms.

Episode 105 – Surging Threat

After intercepting Hurricane Delta’s first landfall in Mexico, Reed and Mike deploy their equipment inside Delta’s second landfall in Louisiana. Hurricane Zeta makes landfall only weeks later, bringing a life-threatening surge to the area. Both storms broke records, which could be more evidence pointing toward the potential of a dangerous new climate regime.

STORM RISING is produced by Lucky 8 and Cambrian Creative for National Geographic. For Lucky 8, executive producers are Kim Woodard, Greg Henry, George Kralovansky, Isaac Holub, Lisa Bloch and Drew Pulley. For Cambrian Creative, the executive producer is Brian O’Toole. For National Geographic, Alan Eyres is executive vice president, Development; Matt Renner is vice president, Production; Chris Kugelman is executive producer; and Courteney Monroe is president, Content.

Thursdays at 9 PM, on National Geographic (ch 220).
From 23 September.