Actor and Texas native Bill Paxton passed away this weekend at 61, from what various news sources suggest were complications related to heart surgery. His untimely death immediately resonated within the weather community because his starring role in the 1996 Warner Brothers film, "Twister", made meteorology really cool -- for the first time. His heroic character -- a TV weatherman -- inspired a generation of kids to pursue meteorology as a career. It was for pop-culture, a never-before-seen look into the world of tornado science and storm chasing, showing there's more to it than pocket protectors, short-sleeve dress shirts and tie bars.
Posthumously, real storm chasers honored Paxton this past Sunday, in a way historically reserved only for those, "on the inside" of this inclusive community: They spelled out his initials - virtually - over a span of hundreds of miles across the southern plains. GPS coordinates were uploaded to a server, which were displayed on a map used to show other chasers where their colleagues are during any given storm chase. Due to the recent emergence of this technology it's a relatively new tradition to do this and has so far been reserved only for a select few. This to me more than anything else, confirms his impact on meteorology.
My personal other favorite Bill Paxton movie was, "True Lies", for much the same reason: he would take what might not be a traditionally popular character, and turn him into an icon. His darkly comedic depiction of a used-car salesman was executed so well, it nearly out-shined the protagonist, Arnold Schwarzenegger.
While Paxton is gone, his influence in the weather world lives on.
