The sad and untimely passing of hugely beloved actor Bill Paxton has hit communities far beyond that of Hollywood.
Paxton’s role in the 1996 hit film ‘
Twister‘ – arguably his most famous role – impacted and inspired a generation of
meteorologists and
storm chasers, and the latter group earlier today paid tribute to the actor,
who passed away at the age of 61 following complications from surgery.
Hundreds of storm chasers coordinated to pay tribute to Paxton by drawing his initials in GPS coordinates across the heart of America’s Tornado Alley.
The storm chasing community had organised similar tributes for fallen storm chasing colleagues a handful of times in the past, but this is the first time the tribute has been used for a non-chaser.
The initials were spelled out on a section of the US map centring over the town of Wakita, Oklahoma – a town not only situated in virtually the heart of tornado country, but one where the bulk of ‘Twister‘ was actually filmed.
John Wetter, president of a non-profit organisation that tracks the location of tornado chasers and helps facilitate the exchange of data with the US National Weather Service, spoke to Associated Press about Paxton’s passing, noting that ‘Twister‘ was the first time mainstream entertainment ever really presented meteorology as being “cool.”
“There are probably hundreds, if not thousands, of meteorologists today – myself included – who were impacted by the movie ‘Twister’ and the role Bill played in that. ‘Twister’ was kind of the first time in a mass media place the meteorologist became cool, if only for a little while.”
Storm chasers rallied and organised online to create the tribute, which was constructed by hundreds of chasers inputting GPS data remotely. The tribute was created in real time, and the image has subsequently done the rounds of the internet.
Meanwhile, Paxton’s co-star in ‘Twister,’ Helen Hunt, paid tribute to the late actor on Twitter a few hours ago.
Rest in power, Bill. Go chase the great storm in the beyond.
Photo: Twister.
