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Regina storm chaser lands TV show

Jul 20, 2014 | 4:38 PM

paNOW Staff

It's been over a year in the making, and now a Regina storm chaser and his team are coming to a television near you.

Greg Johnson, along with Ricky Forbes and Chris Chittick are the stars of the new show “Tornado Hunters” which will debut on CMT this fall.

Johnson has been chasing storms for over a decade, and said even now it's still scary to watch tornados rip through small towns and farms.

“You don't know – maybe you just watched somebody lose their life. Maybe somebody has lost their home,” he said. “These are terrifying moments – that'll never get old.”

He explained bad weather makes people pay attention.

“Everyone has that anecdote,” said Johnson. “Back in the day at the farmyard, this thing happened, that thing happened. Everyone has that story – I think that connects us all with the weather.”

If chasing down severe thunderstorms and tornados sounds fun to you, Johnson said you should learn as much as possible before hitting the road.

“Without that knowledge, of course you're never going to get close to that storm,” he said. “And you're certainly not going to do it in a safe way.”

When they do go hunting for storms, the Tornado Hunters ride in a modified pickup truck nicknamed “Flash.” Traveling over 190,000 kilometers, it has taken a beating or two. The weather has managed to destroy eight windshields so far.

If a tornado touches down Johnson and his crew say you should get underground, and not hide under a highway overpass.

You can let the tornado hunters know about weather in your area by using the hashtag #CMTTornadoHunters on Twitter and Instagram.

dshawcross@rawlco.com

On Twitter: @DebShawcross