Television star, and real-life storm chaser, Joel Taylor suddenly died at the age of 38. Taylor’s cause of death has not been announced, but it was not storm-related. Taylor joined the “Storm Chasers” cast in 2008 and remained on the Discovery Channel show for five seasons.
Taylor’s death was announced on Twitter by his castmate and good friend Reed Timmer, who was clearly shocked and upset at the sudden passing of his buddy.
RIP my best friend and storm chasing partner, Joel Taylor. I am shocked and absolutely devastated by the loss of my incredible, caring friend. We chased so many intense storms, and I wish we could have just one more storm chase. I'll miss you forever, Joel. We lost a legend pic.twitter.com/htN45t8wik
— Reed Timmer, PhD (@ReedTimmerUSA) January 24, 2018
Taylor grew up in Oklahoma, which is in the heart of “Tornado Alley.” His fascination with storms led him to study meteorology at the University of Oklahoma.
Taylor belonged to Team Western OK Chaser. The Western Oklahoma storm chasing group wrote on its Facebook page, “Our community of Elk City and the Storm Chasing community lost a great guy today,” the post says. “He was one of the most level headed chasers on the roads and truly a classy guy outside of chasing. He didn’t chase for the glory he chased because he had a true passion for storms.”
When someone dies at such a young age, there are a lot of questions that need to be asked, but we can’t always answer them. Team Western OK Chaser updated its post to say, “Many people have asked how Joel passed away. For the sake of no false information and repeated reply’s to the question. This is my reply. There is no answer at this time. The medical professionals are trying to determine the cause.”
Joel’s final Facebook post was on January 15th. He was excited to announce the birth of his first niece.
Timmer, who is an extreme weather meteorologist for Accuweather, tweed a video of Taylor chasing a massive tornado in the Texas Panhandle when he was just 21. He emphasized the fact that Taylor had incredibly natural instincts when it came to chasing storms. That tweeted video is below.
Here is video of one of Joel's many tornado intercepts, but this one from May 29, 2001 when just 21 in the TX Panhandle. Incredible natural instinct chasing tornadoes and reading the sky. No one better at dominating back roads behind the wheel https://t.co/wIx1AUDKng
— Reed Timmer, PhD (@ReedTimmerUSA) January 24, 2018
Local Oklahoma storm chasers are asking for prayers for Taylor’s family while they come to terms with his sudden and devastating death.
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Source: Daily Mail
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