The Storm Chasers take to the field in a fleet of three customised vehicles, each with its own special role to play in the team’s mission to track down one of nature’s deadliest creations.

The pride of this intrepid armada is the Tornado Intercept Vehicle, or TIV, a heavy, armoured juggernaut that sports an array of special features designed to carry it into the very heart of a twister to collect vital data and capture incredible footage with an IMAX camera.

Equally vital to the team’s success is the 'Doppler on Wheels', or DOW, that carries a complete mobile weather radar system to provide near real-time updates about tornado activity.

Smallest but not the least, the SCOUT vehicle leads the way at the opening of the chase, seeking out the best intercept routes and radar vantage points and deploying instrument probes in the path of oncoming tornadoes.

SCOUT

Although it appears to be the simplest of the three vehicles, the SCOUT is actually a fully mobile weather station originally used by Dr Josh Wurman as his personal tornado chaser before the deployment of the DOW.

This vintage 4x4 Nissan Pathfinder continues to carry an impressive array of weather-tracking instrumentation.

The SCOUT has a dual mission that includes scouting out passable roads for the TIV and DOW and placing probes in the path of oncoming tornadoes.

Doppler on Wheels (DOW)

The DOW is based on the chassis and modified flatbed of a 1996 Ford F700 truck.

Major customisations include fabrication of a greatly expanded cabin for the radar operator and radar control equipment, installation of the radar dish and its mount, and the addition of a hydraulics system that powers the vehicle’s 'leveling' mechanism.

The entire process took many months, but at the relatively low cost of $250,000 due largely to the use of government surplus equipment.

The final product is a fully-enabled mobile radar station that can provide weather updates to the TIV and SCOUT every 19 seconds.

Tornado Intercept Vehicle (TIV)

Built by Sean Casey from a stripped-down 1006 Ford F450 truck, the TIV was designed to be as heavy, rounded and as low to the ground as the chassis would allow. Work on the vehicle began in 2003, and took about eight months to complete, spread out over several years, at a total cost of about $80,000.

The TIV is basically a protected mobile mount for an IMAX camera that allows filming of direct tornado impacts.

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Watch these unique vehicles in action in the Video Gallery.