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Storm Chasers Honor "Twister" Star with GPS Tribute

Spotter Network

 

Nearly 200 storm chasers are paying tribute to the late actor Bill Paxton by spelling out his initials using GPS coordinates on a map depicting the heart of Tornado Alley.

The effort coordinated Sunday by Spotter Network spelled out "BP" to honor the leading man in the disaster movie "Twister," which inspired a generation of storm chasers.

John Wetter, the nonprofit's president, says storm chasers have spelled out the initials of fellow chasers four or five times before but never a non-chaser.

Most people participating did not travel, but they instead entered GPS coordinates manually to spell the letters on a map centered around Wakita, Oklahoma.

In the movie, Paxton plays a storm chaser who's researching tornados during a twister outbreak in Oklahoma.

Paxton's death at age 61 was announced Sunday.