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Justin Walker - PROBE Navigator
"Growing up in Oklahoma, I was always fond of severe weather, and in 1993, at the age of 13, I watched a tornado destroy the small town where I grew up. Seeing the power of that tornado sparked my interest in becoming a meteorologist. In the fall of 2000, I began attending the University of Oklahoma to study meteorology, and began actively storm chasing. Chasing for hundreds of hours and driving thousands of miles in pursuit of tornadoes has honed my skill set so that I am able to do this as a full-time job with the DOWs. This spring, I have been working on the new radar truck, DOW6. We are replacing the older DOW3, the one we used last year, with a faster, bigger truck that won’t break down in the crucial moments. I have been married to my beautiful wife Hannah for five years now, in the past she has put up with me being gone several months of the each spring chasing, but I guess she has had enough as she will be joining me this spring deploying probes! If I have to spend two straight months with someone in a vehicle, why not spend it with my wife. It should be fun and interesting! I have taken her chasing a couple of times and she hasn’t really seen anything exciting, hopefully, that won’t continue!"
Hannah Walker - PROBE Driver
"When I met Justin nine years ago we were just two Oklahoma kids. I encouraged his interest in weather, but I had no idea what I was getting us into! It has become such a huge part of his life, and so it is a big part of mine, just in a different way. Justin and I were married almost five years ago, since our wedding anniversary falls during storm season every year, we’ve never spent one together. He’s gone for months at a time chasing tornadoes, and I’m just chillin’ here in Denver working on my artwork, showing at galleries. During the Spring we live in completely different worlds, and even though I’ve always loved the fact that he had something he was so passionate about, I’ve never really understood it. I’ve seen all his videos and photographs up close and personal with tornadoes, and he’s given me a play by play of just about every chase he’s ever been on. Even though I find his excitement about it all absolutely adorable, I just can’t really see what all the fuss is about. So, I’m trading in my heels for running shoes, and I’m hitting the road with the chasers. The driver’s seat of SCOUT is the last place I expected to find myself this year, but when you have a chance to really experience something in life…you should always take it!"
