Martin Lisius is an American filmmaker and storm chaser. He founded StormStock, a weather and climate

stock footage Stock footage, and similarly, archive footage, library pictures, and file footage is film or video footage that can be used again in other films. Stock footage is beneficial to filmmakers as it saves shooting new material. A single piece of stoc ...

collection, in 1993, and Tempest Tours, a

storm chasing Storm chasing is broadly defined as the deliberate pursuit of any severe weather phenomenon, regardless of motive, but most commonly for curiosity, adventure, scientific investigation, or for news or media coverage. A person who chases storm ...

expedition company, in 2000. In 2018, he produced and directed the short film, ''Prairie Wind,'' among the first known

16K resolution 16K resolution is a display resolution with approximately 16,000 pixels horizontally. The most commonly discussed 16K resolution is , which doubles the pixel count of 8K UHD in each dimension, for a total of four times as many pixels. This resol ...

videos to exist. In 1993, Lisius founded the

Texas Severe Storms Association The Texas Severe Storms Association (TESSA) is a national non-profit organization founded in 1993 by storm chaser Martin Lisius. Kim George currently serves as chairperson after Martin Lisius stepped down in 2015. The organization’s mission is ...

(TESSA), a non-profit whose mission is "to bring together both professional

meteorologists A meteorologist is a scientist who studies and works in the field of meteorology aiming to understand or predict Earth's atmospheric phenomena including the weather. Those who study meteorological phenomena are meteorologists in research, while th ...

and weather enthusiasts in an attempt to better understand dangerous storms through the collection and diffusion of knowledge." Lisius was a finalist for 2023 Footage Person of the Year, an award presented by

FOCAL International FOCAL International is the trade association representing stock footage companies, post-production facilities and individuals involved in the use of footage, still images and audio in all forms of media production. It represents more than 300 ...

. Lisius is listed on the Notable Alumni web page for the Department of Communication at the University of Texas at Arlington.

Tempest Tours

In 2000, Lisius founded an experiential travel company called Tempest Tours. The company provides storm chasing expeditions to paying guests. Expeditions take place in the US Great Plains region of

Tornado Alley Tornado Alley is a loosely defined area of the central United States where tornadoes are most frequent. The term was first used in 1952 as the title of a research project to study severe weather in areas of Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Kansas, ...

during the active spring storm season there. The company is staffed primarily by veteran storm chasers, first responders, and meteorologists. Research meteorologist Charles A. Doswell IIl was an early member of the staff working as a lecturer.

StormStock

StormStock is a collection of weather and climate stock footage and a brand of Prairies Pictures, Inc. that Lisius founded in 1993. Lisius and a staff of videographers track and film severe weather, such as

hurricanes A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm, storm system characterized by a Low-pressure area, low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, Beaufort scale, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms tha ...

and

tornadoes A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, alth ...

, and license the content for use in TV and film productions.

Public Safety

Lisius founded the

(TESSA), a 501(c)3 non-profit, in 1993 to bring meteorologists and storm chasers together and help disseminate their information to the public. TESSA hosts the National Storm Conference where presentations about severe weather are presented by experts. As TESSA chairman, Lisius co-developed the DFW Tornado Scenario with National Weather Service Ft. Worth meteorologists

Alan Moller Alan Roger Moller (February 1, 1950 – June 19, 2014) was an American meteorologist, storm chaser, nature and landscape photographer known for advancing spotter training and bridging operational meteorology (particularly severe storms forecast ...

, Gary Woodall, and Bill Bunting in 2000. Later,

North Central Texas Council of Governments The North Central Texas Council of Governments or NCTCOG is a voluntary association of governments in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. Its ranks currently include 230 member governments including 16 counties, numerous cities, school districts, ...

analyst Scott Rae created detailed versions of the scenario titled, Tornado Damage Risk Assessment. Their objective was to create scientific scenarios in which major tornadoes tracked through the Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex in order to be better prepared for those potentially catastrophic events. Lisius published a book in 2014 titled, "The Ultimate Severe Weather Safety Guide." In the book, he states his purpose for writing it is to share what he has learned as a storm chaser to help others stay safe when severe weather threatens. Chapters include safety tips for tornadoes, lightning, hurricanes and flash flooding. In an attempt to demonstrate the danger of flying debris in a tornado, Lisius took some common household objects to the Debris Impact Facility at

Texas Tech University Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sy ...

Lubbock Lubbock ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, 10th-most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat, seat of government of Lubbock County, Texas, Lubbock County. With a population of 260,993 in 2021, the city is also ...

to be launched by their pneumatic cannon in 2019. One object, a small handheld camera, became the fastest projectile to be tested at the facility reaching a speed of 264 mph.

Filmography

In 1995, Lisius directed "StormWatch," a training video for the National Weather Service used nationwide to train storm spotter groups. Lisius co-produced the video with meteorologists Gary Woodall and

. It was produced by the

with support from the Meadows Foundation of Dallas, Texas. In 1996, Lisius wrote and directed "The Chasers of Tornado Alley," an early documentary film about storm chasing. In 2018, Lisius shot a short film titled, "Prairie Wind" with a 16K video camera system he custom-built. In 2024, Lisius wrote and directed "The Chasers of Tornado Alley: Touching the Sky," a sequel to the 1996 documentary about storm chasing. The film was shot on 4K and 16K video, and on Super 35mm motion picture film.

Notable storm intercepts

June 8, 1995 Pampa - Hoover, Texas tornadoes, F4-F5. May 30, 1998 Spencer, South Dakota Tornado, F4. Hurricane Katrina (Category 5) Mississippi - Louisiana coastal landfall, August 29, 1995.

Hurricane Harvey Hurricane Harvey was a devastating Category 4 hurricane that made landfall on Texas and Louisiana in August 2017, causing catastrophic flooding and more than 100 deaths. It is tied with 2005's Hurricane Katrina as the costliest ...

, Southeast Texas, August 2017. Lisius' aerial footage of Hurricane Harvey appears in his short film, "Buffalo Bayou Rising," an official selection by the 2017 Flying Robot International Film Festival.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lisius, Martin Filmmakers from Texas Year of birth missing Year of death missing