These guys were more scientific than many "storm chasers", many of the chasers are just goofballs who want to get close to a storm and get some good pics to sell to NatGeo or Time magazine.
In my "Sheriff'n" days up in Kansas the amateurs used to come through the area driving like a bat out of hell, trying to get to a storm 200 miles away in another state before the storm came and went.
After the "Twister" movie came out it increased 10 fold, everyone with a van and a camera had Twister fever and tried to be storm chasers hoping to catch some video or meteorological data to make a name for themselves.
It was not uncommon to encounter caravans of storm chasers all competing to be the first one to the next tornado, all driving close to 100 mph on 2 lane state highways. And they all felt like they were entitled to break any law and had the mistaken believe that the cops were somehow their allies.
I"m not a meteorologist, but my belief is there aren't too many breakthroughs or revelations to be gained by driving into a tornado. I guess it's due to growing up around them and seeing how mean they are. Death and destruction is part of the tornado experience.
