From an outsider's perspective, storm chasing might appear to involve hours and hours of boredom, accentuated by a few moments of unimaginable excitement—or terror—depending on one's love or fear of tornadoes. But to tornado researchers, the effort and expense they expend in search of a single tornado-producing storm reflect the importance of these events in terms of their impact on lives and property. This video segment adapted from NOVA follows some of the scientists who study these violent storms and highlights what they've learned about the storms and what they still want to know about the conditions that cause them.

This video is available in both English and Spanish audio, along with corresponding closed captions.