AMERICA’S ‘tornado queen’ has tackled some of the world’s deadliest storms head-on, come inches from decapitation and still can’t stop going back for more.
Melanie Metz, who found fame as part of TV’s Twister Sisters, has been battling the beasts for three decades and believes she must have died in a tornado in a past life.
Melanie Metz has spent her life documenting the world’s largest tornadoesCredit: Brad Nelson
The terrifying storms devastate anything in their pathCredit: Melanie Metz
The storms cover miles at a timeCredit: Melanie Metz
Metz lives in the US’s infamous Tornado Alley, where lethal storms form every spring, spitting chunks of hail and hit 300mph wind speeds.
Her most chilling close call came in 2013 near El Reno – a monster storm so huge it became the widest tornado in history.
She told The Sun: “That day our entire storm-chasing community had an intuitive knowing that something bad was going to happen, something extra bad.
“We’ve seen plenty of big days where we’ve been like ‘oh this is going to be an explosive tornado’, but we don’t normally have this feeling of dread, and that happened before the storm had even developed.
“It was moving close to Oklahoma City at rush hour, and that is the worst time and place to be chasing a storm.”
Traffic was gridlocked and even the hardened pros were terrified.
“We had to outrun it for a while. It was like a nightmare, because traffic was at a standstill.
“People were driving on both lanes of the road in the same direction to try and get away from it.”
Three renowned storm-chasers – Tim Samaras, his son Paul, and Carl Young of the TWISTEX project – were tragically killed alongside five others.
“They were putting themselves at extra high risk of getting hit just in the work that they were doing,” Metz said.
“They were very smart, great people and very experienced chasers, but that tornado was one of the strangest and most powerful there have ever been.”
If May 31, 2013 was the day everyone felt dread, then April 26, 2024 was the day Metz almost died before she even realised what she’d done.
“I was chasing the tornado outbreak in Nebraska and Iowa. I documented a large EF-3 tornado in Lincoln, NE and then continued East into Iowa.”
As tornadoes erupted across the region, low light and fast-changing storm tracks created chaos.
Metz raced up a dirt road with her eyes locked on the sky and never saw the danger ahead.
She said: “I had my eyes on the storm and due to very low light I did not see the damaged buildings down the road or the very low hanging cable above me.
“I drove under that cable at about 45mph. It scraped the top of my vehicle and obliterated my GoPro on the roof.
“It was only after I drove under this cable that I realised it was there. If that cable had been only a foot or two lower, it literally could have shaved off my roof and my head.
“I am very lucky to still be alive after that incident.”
Melanie Metz lives in America’s infamous Tornado Alley and found fame as part of TV’s Twister SistersCredit: Melanie Metz
A massive vortex rips through a field in South DakotaCredit: Melanie Metz
Mammatus clouds drift over a house in ColoradoCredit: Melanie Metz
During a tornado near Wilber, Nebraska in 2004, she and her team found a man walking along a dark road, cigarette in hand, looking for help.
“We came across this guy walking along the road at night smoking a cigarette and he was looking for help because his family was trapped in the basement.”
The tornado had caused the house to collapse above them.
“Luckily they didn’t get hit by any of that falling debris, but they were still of course very freaked out, so we stopped and helped him.”
Metz called 911 and helped free the family.
“We helped get them out of the basement and made sure no one was injured.”
Metz stressed that the danger doesn’t end with the tornado – there’s leaking propane, sparking wires and unstable wreckage waiting to finish the job.
Fortunately, nobody was harmed in the aftermath, and she remains friends with the family to this day.
An ominous supercell forms above a field in South DakotaCredit: Melanie Metz
Lightning strikes as rain thunders downCredit: Melanie Metz
Metz lifelong obsession began long before she saw her first real tornado.
As a child in Arizona, she began dreaming about them at the age of five.
“It’s almost like I was born with it,” she said.
“Usually in my dreams I was looking for shelter and I was in a strange town and I was trying to find somewhere to get underground and I could not quite get under shelter before a tornado would hit.
“It felt like it was really happening. In my dreams I never died. But sometimes I wonder if I died in a tornado in a past life.
“I wasn’t afraid from these dreams. I was fascinated and needed to witness that power.”
When her family moved to Minnesota, the storms finally came within reach.
“I was more excited than anything when the tornado sirens would go off.”
As soon as she got her driving licence, she would head straight into the storms.
She studied the science, took specialist courses, which she believes helped harness the fear.
Metz worked as a chemist at the time and spent the spring on her storm-chasing escapades, much to the chagrin of her first husband.
Overturned trucks block the I-40 highway in El Reno, 2013Credit: AP:Associated Press
The 2013 El Reno tornado was the largest in recorded historyCredit: AP:Associated Press
“My first husband thought it was a waste of time, waste of money.
“He wanted more of a Martha Stewart wife who was going to be like his mom, stay home and cook dinners for him.”
But Metz had other ideas, and quickly established herself as a prominent chaser in the community.
Her big break came as one half of the storm-chasing duo Twister Sisters, which she formed with long-time collaborator and storm-chaser daredevil, Peggy Willenberg.
The show featured outsiders riding along with Metz and Willenberg as they went chasing in Tornado Alley.
It gave the duo even more popularity in the community, and Metz regularly gets recognised when she’s out
She said: “I do have some people call me ‘the GOAT’.”
Dangers of chasing tornadoes
WHILE the weather itself presents serious hazards, the single biggest danger to tornado and storm chasers is driving and traffic-related accidents
Car Accidents: This is the most significant risk. Accidents occur due to a combination of high speeds, long hours of driving (leading to fatigue), wet or hail-covered roads, poor visibility, and distractions from navigating, monitoring weather data, or filming.
Chaser Convergence: When many chasers converge on the same storm, it can lead to traffic jams on rural roads. This can block escape routes and trap vehicles directly in the path of the tornado.
Road Conditions: Chasers may encounter hazards like flash floods, downed power lines or debris, animals on the roadway, or unexpected road washouts.
Unpredictable Storm Movement: Tornadoes can change direction, accelerate, or suddenly expand (as seen in the deadly 2013 El Reno tornado), catching even experienced chasers off guard and cutting off their escape routes.
Rain-Wrapped Tornadoes: Often referred to as being in the “bear’s cage,” these tornadoes are obscured by heavy rain, making them invisible and extremely difficult to avoid. Driving through this precipitation core (“core punching”) is highly dangerous due to near-zero visibility and the threat of large hail.
Large Hail: Hail can reach baseball size or larger, severely damaging vehicles, smashing windows, and causing injuries to people outside of a car.
Lightning: Lightning is an ever-present, unavoidable hazard during any thunderstorm.
Strong Winds and Debris: Even outside the main tornado, severe downburst winds can push vehicles around, and flying debris from the storm can cause serious damage or injury.
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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