Local meteorologists talk twisters at The Lindsay Theater in Sewickley
Disaster movie fans had an opportunity to hear from local meteorologists about how Hollywood highlights weather — specifically tornadoes — and their thoughts on Western Pennsylvania weather so far this year.
Scott Harbaugh of WPXI and KDKA’s Ron Smiley spoke to a packed house at The Lindsay Theater & Cultural Center as part of the Sewickley venue’s Twister Talk.
The July 26 event was book-ended by the theater’s afternoon and evening screenings of the new movie “Twisters.”
Harbaugh has been a meteorologist for 31 years, including 19 at WPXI, and Smiley has been a meteorologist since 2001, including the past nine years at KDKA.
The pair said they enjoyed the discussion and that many staffers on local media outlets have become friends despite being on competing channels.
“The most fun for me is getting to do it with Ron or doing it with someone else because it ends up being a conversation between the two of us,” Harbaugh said. “We both have similar backgrounds, but we can both have completely different takes on a movie or something like that. We all get along.”
The summer epic disaster movie is directed by Lee Isaac Chung and stars Daisy Edgar-Jones and Glen Powell.
The pair play opposing forces who come together to try to predict, and possibly tame, immense tornadoes.
Edgar-Jones plays Kate Cooper, a former storm chaser haunted by a devastating encounter with a tornado during her college years who now studies storm patterns on screens safely in New York City.
She is lured back to the open plains by her friend, Javi, played by Anthony Ramos, to test a groundbreaking new tracking system. There, she crosses paths with Tyler Owens (Powell), the charming and reckless social-media superstar who thrives on posting his storm-chasing adventures with his raucous crew. As storm season intensifies, terrifying phenomena never seen before are unleashed, and Kate, Tyler and their competing teams find themselves squarely in the paths of multiple storm systems converging over central Oklahoma in the fight of their lives.
Movie talk
Theater communications director Josh Axelrod served as moderator.
He inquired about safety tips and if there was an unusual amount of tornadoes in the area this year among other related subjects.
Smiley said he liked the movie and appreciated the technical jargon in various parts of the film.
“It’s hard when you do that because we’re not going to drop something like a rear-flank downdraft just randomly in speech,” Smiley said.
Another of Smiley’s highlights was showing a high-precipitation tornado and a low-precipitation tornado.
“We look at storms that are not what we call rain-wrapped,” he said. “It gives us this gorgeous view that you can take gorgeous pictures of these tornadoes. We don’t normally get a lot of those here.”
Smiley was also careful not to give away many spoilers, but could not help telling at least one surprise cameo.
“When the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man came out, I did not expect that,” he said.
Spoiler: That character first appeared in “Ghostbusters” in 1984.
Harbaugh said he has not seen the film but saw the 1996 “Twister” film. He noted that weather-related movies remind him why he became a weatherman.
The ‘90s film starred Helen Hunt, Bill Paxton and Jami Gertz. It told the story of how two storm chasers on the brink of divorce must work together to create an advanced weather alert system. Their efforts put themselves in the path of very violent tornadoes.
Harbaugh said other weather-related movies like “Sharknado” and “2012” are in a league all their own.
He said storm chasers take a lot of unnecessary risks compared to other weather reporters.
“Some of them know what they’re doing, (and) some of them just want to be on social media,” Harbaugh said.
Safety talk
Eighteen tornadoes have touched down in Western Pennsylvania this year, according to the meteorologists.
“It’s definitely unusual,” Harbaugh said. “We’ve had instability at the right time.”
The National Weather Service classifies a tornado’s intensity by the Fujita Scale. The scale indicates a tornado’s wind speed can vary from 40 mph to 318 mph with the weakest called a Gale tornado and the fastest an Incredible tornado.
The faster the winds, the greater the destruction.
Severe weather watches are sent out hours in advance while warnings are issued when strong storms are more imminent. People are to shelter in their basements or find the lowest point without windows in their homes in the event of a tornado or severe weather.
Harbaugh said people should take warnings very seriously, especially those sent to their cellphones or weather apps because they are likely more focused on the user’s area.
The time between watches and warnings to an actual tornado or storm at someone’s house is still a challenge to predict.
“A lot of what goes on in a tornado, the science of it, we understand,” Smiley said. “Even with that science, our forecasts, we can’t tell you exactly when one is going to form. There’s a lot of nature that’s involved in a tornado forming.
“Our planet is always trying to equalize when it comes to heat and temperatures and other things. When we get out of whack, that’s when we have severe weather. That’s when we get tornadoes and things like that as well.”
Group reaction
Harbaugh and Smiley spoke with guests for a while individually after the talk ended.
Lydia Zagorski of Beaver said she came to the talk to learn about what she feared the most.
“I’m really afraid of tornadoes,” she said. “I didn’t know there was a difference between precipitation tornadoes and other tornadoes. They are definitely super knowledgeable and I’m glad I came.”
Zagorski said she still fears tornadoes, but would not mind acting in a twister movie.
Otis McAliley, 88, of Sewickley is a longtime volunteer at the theater.
He said he enjoys coming to its various programs and enjoyed the new movie.
“If I had another life, I would be a meteorologist,” McAliley said. “I’ve lived in Michigan for a while, so I enjoy snow. I lived in Kansas for a while, so I know about tornadoes. I’m from Philadelphia, so I know about heat.
“I’ve lived in Washington, D.C., so I know about that juncture. There’s something about the weather that makes you want to be a part of it. I’m blessed to see so many different storms.”
At least 40 people came to Twister Talk.
“We were thrilled to welcome Scott and Ron to The Lindsay for this exclusive event,” Axelrod said. “This is a great example of the kind of programming we specialize in. We hope our guests enjoyed themselves as much as we enjoyed having those two certified weather experts at the theater.
“We love providing our guests with fun and educational experiences related to the films we’re showing.”
Michael DiVittorio is a TribLive reporter covering general news in Western Pennsylvania, with a penchant for festivals and food. He can be reached at mdivittorio@triblive.com.
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