National Geographic: Inside the Mega Twister

Oklahoma is home to thirty-nine federally recognized tribes. Nowhere in North America will you find such diversity among Native Peoples, and nowhere will you find a more tragic history. Host Moses Brings Plenty (Oglala Lakota) guides this episode of Growing Native on a journey through Oklahoma’s past and present.

In Thorold, Ontario in the summer of 1996, a movie legend was made when a real-life tornado hit a drive-in theatre during a screening of Twister. But how much truth really lies inside this tale of life (or weather) imitating art?

Sipping Jetstreams Media presents This Time Tomorrow, a film by Taylor Steele, documenting an epic Pacific swell chase over 8 days and 18,000 miles traveled. Two surfers, Dave Rastovich and Craig Anderson, tracked waves generated from this single storm in an exhausting attempt to surf the same wave twice as they pulsed eastward through the Pacific. As these waves thundered across the legendary reef of Teahupo’o, reeled down the endless point breaks of Mexico and onwards towards a frosty Arctic conclusion the pair gathered friends Kelly Slater, Chris Del Moro, Alex Gray, and Dan Malloy for this cinematic and cosmic experience of a lifetime.

In September of 1938, a great storm rose up on the coast of West Africa and began making its way across the Atlantic Ocean. The National Weather Bureau learned about it from merchant ships at sea and predicted it would blow itself out at Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, as such storms usually did. Within 24 hours, the storm ripped into the New England shore with enough fury to set off seismographs in Sitka, Alaska. Traveling at a shocking 60 miles per hour -- three times faster than most tropical storms -- it was astonishingly swift and powerful, with peak wind gusts up to 186 mph. Over 600 people were killed, most by drowning. Another hundred were never found. Property damage was estimated at $400 million -- over 8,000 homes were destroyed, 6,000 boats wrecked or damaged.

The storm of 1993 that ravaged the Eastern Seaboard was bigger than any since the 1800s. Most were expecting only more unseasonable warmth, and were caught off-guard by the hurricane winds, massive thunderstorms, and fierce blizzards. Meteorologists puzzled over bizarre reports from their computers. Late warnings went largely unheard. Video footage from Florida to Maine documents nature's savagery.

Joplin native Chip Gubera's documentary JOPLIN MISSOURI: A TORNADO STORY is a comprehensive, informative account of the devastation wrought on his hometown by a natural disaster and its subsequent recovery. On May 21, 2011 the deadliest tornado ever recorded struck Joplin, an F5 in which wind gusts exceeded 200 mph. In fact, it was not a single tornado, but a multi-vortex tornado created by two converging storms. As local meteorologist Jeremiah Cook explained, this meant that the half mile wide tornado had several "fingers," each an individual tornado, and the rains were so heavy one could not see them before they struck. Narrator George Noory's jovial voice and the monotone recollections of survivors belie the overwhelming scope of the devastation.

Tar Creek is an environmentally devastated area in northeastern Oklahoma with acidic creeks, stratospheric lead poisoning and enormous sinkholes. Nearly 30 years after being designated as a Superfund cleanup program, residents are still struggling.

A documentary detailing a collection of amateur footage of tornadoes in the United States for over 50 years.

May 20, 2013––an EF5 tornado ripped through Moore, OK. The magnitude of devastation measured over eight times greater than the atomic bomb that leveled Hiroshima. As the world watched, one question continued to surface—Where Was God? This story follows several families and individuals who recount the timeline of destruction and share their experiences of the devastating and miraculous events that changed their lives forever.

Tornado Alley documents two unprecedented missions seeking to encounter one of Earth’s most awe-inspiring events—the birth of a tornado. Filmmaker Sean Casey’s personal quest to capture the birth of a tornado with a 70mm camera takes viewers on a breathtaking journey into the heart of the storm. A team of equally driven scientists, the VORTEX2 researchers, experience the relentless strength of nature’s elemental forces as they literally surround tornadoes and the supercell storms that form them, gathering the most comprehensive severe weather data ever collected.

Six fearless surfers travel to the north coast of Iceland to ride waves unlike anything they've ever experienced, captured with high-tech cameras.

Track monsoons, hurricanes, blizzards, and tornadoes. Take a journey around the planet to experience our most extreme storms and to witness the dramatic--and often perilous--efforts of scientists in the pursuit of understanding weather.Join meteorologists in the cockpit of a P-3 weather plane as they penetrate the eye of a hurricane; and in the tense, decisive moments on the road as they focus their radar on an approaching tornado, traveling to the heart of severe storms to learn what makes weather systems tick. Experience the bumpy ride into the sudden and spectacular calm of a hurricane’s eye, or the commando-like raid to the very brink of a killer tornado, and experience one of the elemental joys of doing science: that of confronting nature head-on to divine its awesome secrets.

In 1996, Universal Pictures released 'Twister', a film about tornado researchers. This documentary revisits the topic, exploring the motivations of those risking their lives to study dangerous weather. With never-before-seen footage and interviews, it delves into the lives of Storm Chasers.

A contemplation of art and adventure in the southern wilds of New Zealand by both a landscape photographer and an adventure filmmaker. This film is the unexpected result of their two unique perspectives.

Scientists strive to understand what caused the devasting tornado outbreak of April 2011. Could their research improve future tornado prediction?

The Philippines is visited by an average of 20~28 strong typhoons and storms every year. It is the most storm-battered country in the world. Last year, Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan), considered the strongest storm in history, struck the Philipines, leaving in its path apocalyptic devastation.

Tornadoes explores nature's deadly spirals. Highlights include actual footage of the violent force and the mass destruction that tornadoes create.

When Canadian director Sturla Gunnarsson set upon Iceland to film Beowulf & Grendel starring Gerard Butler and Stellan Skarsgard in 2004, they expected the usual complication involved in making a movie, but what they encountered made them wonder if the Norse gods were actually working against them.

From the oil boom of the 1970s to the failure of Penn Square Bank in 1982 to the bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in 1995, this inspiring, feature-length documentary sheds light on the darkest years of Oklahoma City… and the people who refused to give up. Produced, written and directed by Mick Cornett, Oklahoma City: The Boom, the Bust and the Bomb is a story like no other. It’s a tale of resilience, exploring how Oklahoma City’s turbulent past helped shape its bright, flourishing future.

Follow the offstage, unlikely romance of the king of country, Blake Shelton, and pop princess, Gwen Stefani. Both stars braved their share of challenges on the way to writing their own love song.