How Hollywood helped inspire a new generation of meteorologists
A ticket from a 1996 screening of the movie, “Twister,” superimposed over a tornado blowing through a large field.
Keli Pirtle, a public affairs officer supporting NOAA’s tornado experts says that the first “Twister” movie influenced a lot of people’s careers. Nationally, bachelors degrees in meteorology increased by 47% from 1994 to 2004, and more than doubled by 2007.Pirtle, who grew up in Norman, Oklahoma, was early in her own communications career when the first movie arrived in the mid 1990s.
“I knew there were many things the first movie didn’t get right and I was hoping this time we could infuse a bit more of our real science into the story,” Pirtle says. “Not to say there aren’t some things that are true science fiction this time around.
“Growing up in Oklahoma City, I really wanted to be an extra in ‘Twister’ during middle school but I fell short of the age cut off. ‘Twister’ was one of a number of things that solidified my interest in meteorology before becoming part of one of the largest incoming classes of meteorology students at The University of Oklahoma in 2001. Many classmates still work in the Norman weather community to this day.
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