Tornado Talk is a dynamic, information packed website devoted to tornado history! The site contains over 500 event summaries. Our team of writers and researchers dive deep into the details about each tornado event describing what happened through damage analysis and story-telling. Get Hooked on Tornado History with Tornado Talk!
Biographies
Founder, Director, and Lead Researcher
Jennifer Narramore is the Founder, Director, and Lead Researcher of Tornado Talk, a research-based platform dedicated to preserving tornado history and honoring the people impacted by these events.
Originally from Beech Grove, Indiana, Jennifer’s interest in weather began in middle school while living in Central Florida, where she tracked hurricanes by hand using grocery-store storm charts. She earned a B.S. in Meteorology from Penn State University in 1995 and has worked as a radio broadcast meteorologist for more than 25 years. She began her career at The Weather Channel and currently works with The Storm Report Radio Network, providing daily forecasts for more than 70 cities across the country. In 2020, Jennifer joined the WeatherBrains podcast as a panelist.
Jennifer co-founded Tornado Talk in 2016 as a podcast. After 36 episodes, the podcast ended, but she continued building the brand into an in-depth tornado history website. Today, Tornado Talk combines meteorology, archival research, survivor accounts, and fatality documentation to tell the fuller story of tornado events past and present.
Her work also includes the Virtual Tornado Memorial project, an ongoing effort to identify, document, and honor those who lost their lives in U.S. tornadoes. Through this work, Jennifer emphasizes that tornado history is not only about paths, ratings, and damage surveys — it is also about people, communities, survival, recovery, and remembrance.
Email Jen:Â jennarramore@tornadotalk.com
You can follow Jen on Twitter: @jnarramore
Associate Director of Research & Content, Main Writer
Zach grew up in the town of Scottsboro, AL before attending Ball State University in Indiana, where he majored in Geography with concentrations in Meteorological Studies and Geographic Information Systems (GIS), while competing for the university’s swimming and diving team. Zach went on to receive his Master’s Degree and Graduate Certificate in Geography, focussing on GIS at Auburn University. He currently lives and works in Huntsville, AL. Zach’s passion for weather began at a young age while watching The Weather Channel’s Storm Stories. His passion only grew over the years with discovering websites such as NOAA’s National Hurricane Center and Storm Prediction Center. After his direct encounter with the 2011 Super Tornado Outbreak, his passion was solidified. Understanding the need for post-event story telling, Zach enjoys hearing the experiences from those who have survived tornadoes. He also loves diving into tornado statistics and tracking live severe weather events, and will continue to do so for the rest of his life.
Email Zach:Â zacharyreichle@tornadotalk.com
You can follow Zach on Twitter: @WxDownYonder
Writer, Researcher
Hailing from northern Virginia, Nelson has had a fascination with weather since young childhood. He developed a particular interest in wind-based phenomena. Over time this interest has grown greatly, and he has spent much of his life immersing himself in the science and history of volatile weather. Currently, Nelson is a student at Millersville University where he is pursuing a degree in meteorology. He is the president of the Observations of Tornadoes by UAV Systems (OTUS) Project, an independent research effort. In his spare time, Nelson enjoys weather photography and timelapsing, researching, mapping, and damage analysis.
Email Nelson:Â nelsontucker@tornadotalk.com
You can follow Nelson on Twitter: @TornadoStudy
Many Thanks to Our Other Talented Writers
Lon Curtis
Jacob Crawford
Sawyer Delatte
Beth Ann Crocker
William Dunn
Zach E.
Dan Holiday
Matt Gaines
Brandon Molyneaux
OKTornadoDB
Giovanni Rizzotti
Tony Rogers
Sean Ross
Harrison Sincavage
Chris White
Nick Wilkes
Discord Moderators
Brandon Skalniak
Kay Morrison
William Dunn
Sean Ross
A Special Thanks
There would be no Tornado Talk without Thomas Grazulis. He has dedicated decades of his life to the pursuit of tornado history. His Significant Tornadoes books have been one of our biggest assets in capturing these events. We have also connected with him via social media and he has given us invaluable insight!