Episode 2: What Do Tornadoes Smell Like?

Extreme weather crews document a tornado forming over Fort Dodge, Iowa. According to NOAA, the United States experienced 888 tornadoes in 2014. Photo by Greenpeace / Daniel Beltrá.

New Yorker Alex Kapelman has never seen a tornado, and he certainly has no desire to experience one in the flesh. But he is curious about one thing: what do they smell like? With more than 20 years of storm chasing experience under his belt, extreme weather documentarian Warren Faidley has our answer. And no — he didn’t have to enter the eye of the storm to get it.

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