watching: The Remarkable Mind of Mr. Tornado

We were delighted by this 60-minute dive into the mind, life, research and character of Tetsuya “Ted” Fujita. It’s part of the US history series on public tv, American Experience. Those of us who live in tornado country are so fortunate that this Japanese person was willing to immigrate and share his knowledge. He loved the science: this emboldened him to reach out to a scientist a world away.

Using creative bare-knuckle observations, crowd-sourced photos, and careful analysis Fujita understood the subtle wind patterns that make it possible to predict tornadoes and microbursts. The tornado severity scale measures destructiveness in Fujitas.

He taught at the University of Chicago, who are proud to brag on him

pro-captioned documentary streaming on PBS.org

YouTube excerpts

UK links

Worth checking your local library for a DVD.

Even if these video links don’t work, enjoy this essay summarizing his deep scientific interest in swirling weather:

( 200 word sample )

The essay includes many graphics where Fujita charts system interactions. I can’t describe them because I can’t parse them.

( Rice - Yen & Dollar - CPI )