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A Minnesota state patrol said a woman was killed in a crash with multiple Interstate 90 vehicles during bad weather Wednesday night. The crash happened in the town of Lorraine, near Worthington, in southwestern Minnesota. Three others in the vehicle were injured, as well as one in another car.
Four of the victims of the accident were chasing storms that stopped to avoid damaged power lines before being hit by a tractor trailer. The incident is the latest example of the dangers of storm chases; not from the tornadoes themselves, but from the journey associated with their pursuit, which often requires navigation in extremely dangerous conditions.
The fatal accident comes less than two weeks after three meteorology students at the University of Oklahoma died in a crash that also involved a tractor-trailer on the highway in bad weather. They were returning home from being chased by a storm.
Martha Lanos Rodriguez, a 30-year-old meteorologist from Mexico City, was killed. She was a passenger in the vehicle.
Another passenger, 42-year-old Bradford Barrett, is in life-threatening injuries. Barrett, a physics scientist with the Air Force Research Service, was previously a professor in the Department of Oceanography at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis. He is known to frequent the plains to chase storms and was recently stationed in Chile for his work.
Diego Alvaro Campos, 37, the driver of the car, and Aldo Alberto Viscara-Aviles, 33, another passenger, had non-life-threatening injuries. Both are meteorologists from Chile.
The four met with each other through professional networks and conferences.
The driver of the truck, Jaskaran Singh, 26, was not injured. Tyler Scott Gilbury, the driver of the third vehicle, received non-life-threatening injuries.
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A signal for the crash appeared around 5:54 pm Central Time on Wednesday. Meteorological radar at the time showed torrential rain and thunderstorms in the area. A severe thunderstorm warning was in effect just north of Interstate 90 as widespread intense storms swept the region.
Removed poles and power lines crossed the highway at the site. The poles reportedly broke in strong thunderstorms with gusts of more than 60 miles per hour.
The horrific scene yesterday, when strong storms cut a number of power lines near Worthington, Minnesota. Lines falling on the Interstate resulted in a life-threatening accident. I have had several close conversations with power lines over the years. #mnwx #mnnews pic.twitter.com/9eMTNkg2NR
– Brian Emfinger (@brianemfinger) May 12, 2022
A Chevrolet hatchback carrying storm chasers appeared to have been stopped to avoid contact with power lines when Singh’s truck crashed into the vehicle.
Earlier in the day, Rodriguez tweeted that she was joining the group’s adventures as it was her first day out. She was a forecaster for Mexico City, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported and helped set up an early warning system there.
She shared a tweet below showing the group moving through storms and heavy rain about 20 minutes before the incident.
Social media posts by the men on the trip show that they chased the storm for several days before Rodriguez arrived on Wednesday. The men picked her up in the morning in Nebraska before heading northeast. Storm risk 3 out of 5 covered the area where the National Weather Service received reports of tornadoes and strong winds until late in the evening.
“We were chasing storms,” Campos told the Star Tribune on Thursday morning. “The storm was really bad and we were trying to get out of there.
Although the deaths of storm chasers are rare, this is the second tragedy involving pursuers for so many weeks. On April 29, Meteorology students at the University of Oklahoma, Drake Brooks, Nicholas Nair and Gavin Short, were killed while returning home from persecution. Their accident also happened during heavy rain.
Day 2 of the chase: We were chasing northeast of Minneapolis today and our team was dressed in red to honor the three OUSOM students, Nick, Gavin and Drake, who tragically lost their lives not long ago pic.twitter.com/H7oqlya4pD
– Storm Chase Team in Penn State (@StormChaseTeam) May 10, 2022
Driving itself is considered the main risk of chasing a storm. The probability of accidents with vehicles is much higher than being hit by a tornado.
According to a study by the US Department of Transportation, 70 percent of weather-related accidents were on wet surfaces, and 76 percent of those killed in traffic. “On average, more than 5,000 people die and more than 418,000 people are injured in weather disasters each year,” it said.
The death of Oklahoma students highlights the risk of storm chase: Driving
A community still shocked by the deaths of storm chasers in late April is once again excited by news of another incident.
“Shocked and horrified by the news that one of my frequent high school chase partners and fellow @bsbarret professors of meteorology was seriously injured in a crash last night at MN,” tweeted Robin Tanamacci, a professor of weather at Purdue University. “I think deeply about him and the other victims of this incident today.
Many others in the scientific and wider world of the time also responded with disbelief.
My God, this is heartbreaking news. @bsbarret is a close friend of mine (he gave me a tour of the future student at @ousom). He does such a great job of taking students from Mexico / Chile under his wing to teach them about the weather. Prayers for recovery and for all involved 🙏 https://t.co/MfrhUoZff0
– Pat Highland (@hylandwx) May 12, 2022
Heavy weather is expected in the region again on Thursday, with level 4 out of 5 risk of dangerous storms.
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