Uploaded October 2023 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Neil Ward was a pioneering research scientist at the National Severe Storms Laboratory [NSSL] from the start of the ESSA [later NOAA] funded organization in 1964 onward until his death in 1972.
Along with building and developing the first physical laboratory model in his garage, and later updating a new version at NSSL that imitated actual tornado features later observed in field observations, Ward lead the way in scientific based storm chasing and documentation, the first to successfully locate and film a motion picture of a tornado on a storm chase with radar report radio relay assistance from the Oklahoma Highway Patrol on May 4, 1961.
Purdue University later refined the Ward model, which "allowed for identification and investigation of the parameters that govern various types of vortex formation and behavior." [Grazulis, The Tornado Project].
This interview was recorded and distributed by a now defunct New York City television firm that produced educational films. The later tornado model films were taken by Ward himself. The entire sequence was provided by Dr. Ward to The Tornado Project for use in the Tom and Doris Grazulis produced educational film 'Approaching the Unapproachable' in 1972 and later the Tornado Video Classics videotape series in 1992.
Additional information via StormTrack magazine: stormtrack.org/library/people/ward.htm
Film © the National Severe Storms Laboratory and the archive of Neil Ward, courtesy of The Tornado Project.
Neil Ward was a pioneering research scientist at the National Severe Storms Laboratory [NSSL] from the start of the ESSA [later NOAA] funded organization in 1964 onward until his death in 1972.
Along with building and developing the first physical laboratory model in his garage, and later updating a new version at NSSL that imitated actual tornado features later observed in field observations, Ward lead the way in scientific based storm chasing and documentation, the first to successfully locate and film a motion picture of a tornado on a storm chase with radar report radio relay assistance from the Oklahoma Highway Patrol on May 4, 1961.
Purdue University later refined the Ward model, which "allowed for identification and investigation of the parameters that govern various types of vortex formation and behavior." [Grazulis, The Tornado Project].
This interview was recorded and distributed by a now defunct New York City television firm that produced educational films. The later tornado model films were taken by Ward himself. The entire sequence was provided by Dr. Ward to The Tornado Project for use in the Tom and Doris Grazulis produced educational film 'Approaching the Unapproachable' in 1972 and later the Tornado Video Classics videotape series in 1992.
Additional information via StormTrack magazine: stormtrack.org/library/people/ward.htm
Film © the National Severe Storms Laboratory and the archive of Neil Ward, courtesy of The Tornado Project.
![Raging Planet: Tornado [1997] The Discovery Channel](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/wbgAj0F212Q/mqdefault.jpg "Raging Planet: Tornado [1997] The Discovery Channel
Raging Planet: Tornado is a 45 minute special that was produced by UK based Pioneer Productions and aired on The Discovery Channel in late 1997 and early 1998. It features many infamous tornado events and then ongoing research efforts from the early through mid 1990s and was one of the more popular tornado documentaries produced in the later part of the decade.
For references, the Pioneer Productions crew that was traveling and chasing with Jim Leonard and others, along with the mini research helicopter, are featured in this May 31, 1996 Kansas tornado chase day as documented by the late Jim Leonard: https://youtu.be/hjPSPAPPmjg
© 1997 Pioneer Productions, All Rights Reserved.")
