Eric Michael Nguyen (January 2, 1978 – September 9, 2007) was an American professional storm chaser,

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

, and photographer from Keller, Texas, United States. In 2008, Nguyen released his first book of photography titled ''Adventures in Tornado Alley: The Storm Chasers'' with co-author Mike Hollingshead.

Early life and education

Eric Michael Isbell (last name changed to Nguyen after marriage) was born in

Newport Beach, California Newport Beach is a coastal city of about 85,000 in southern Orange County, California, United States. Located about southeast of downtown Los Angeles, Newport Beach is known for its sandy beaches. The city's harbor once supported maritime indu ...

, near

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, in 1978 and raised in

Keller, Texas Keller is a city in Tarrant County, Texas, United States, in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. According to the 2020 census, the city's population is 45,776, making Keller the 78th most populated city in Texas. The most recent population est ...

, after his parents relocated soon after his birth. Eric was strongly interested in severe storms and

tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with the surface of 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, although the ...

es as a child and became heavily intrigued with mobile instrumentation systems for weather data collection. Eric began studying meteorology at the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

(OU) in 2001. He graduated with a B.S. degree in meteorology in May 2005.

Career

In 1994, Nguyen began chasing storms in Texas and soon expanded his range to the larger area of the central United States commonly known as

Tornado Alley Tornado Alley, also known as Tornado Valley, is a loosely defined location of the central United States and, in the 21st century, Canada where tornadoes are most frequent. The term was first used in 1952 as the title of a research project to st ...

. Nguyen began publishing images regularly in Accord Publishing's popular annual Weather Guide Calendar series
''Smithsonian Magazine''
as well a

''

Storm Track ''Storm Track'' was the first magazine for and about storm chasing. The magazine was in circulation between 1977 and 2002. History and profile ''Storm Track'' was started in 1977 by chasing pioneer David K. Hoadley, David Hoadley following an ...

'', ttp://www.ucar.edu/communications/quarterly/winter04/extremes.html ''UCAR Quarterly'', textbooks, and other venues. His

Mulvane, Kansas Mulvane is a city in Sedgwick and Sumner counties in the U.S. state of Kansas. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 6,286. History Mulvane was laid out in 1879 at the junction of five Santa Fe rail lines. It is named for ...

, image of white tornado with a rainbow is one of the most frequently licensed tornado images of all time and several other of his photos have appeared in publications and presentations around the world. Nguyen's storm and tornado photography was considered among the most expressive in the field, with a particular emphasis on unusual palettes and the use of foreground elements to create dynamic line structures in the composition. On April 21, 2007, Nguyen and his storm chasing partner, Amos Magliocco, were struck by a tornado in

Tulia, Texas Tulia is a city in and the county seat of Swisher County, Texas, United States. The population was 4,967 at the 2010 census; by the 2020 census, it had fallen to 4,473. The city is at the junction of U.S. Route 87 and Texas State Highway 86, ...

. Nguyen's scientific grade weather instrumentation survived the hit and arguably measured the sharpest

pressure Pressure (symbol: ''p'' or ''P'') is the force applied perpendicular to the surface of an object per unit area over which that force is distributed. Gauge pressure (also spelled ''gage'' pressure)The preferred spelling varies by country and eve ...

fall ever recorded on Earth. Upon his death, hundreds of weather enthusiasts from around the world praised Nguyen's skills as a photographer and chaser in the online journa
''Storm Track''
The University of Oklahoma hosted a memorial tribute ceremony in the

National Weather Center The National Weather Center (NWC), on the campus of the University of Oklahoma, is a confederation of federal, state, and academic organizations that work together to better understand events that take place in Earth's atmosphere over a wide rang ...

(NWC) on September 22, 2007. The keynote speaker was Dr. Charles A. Doswell III. An endowed scholarship for graduate and undergraduate meteorology students was created in Nguyen's name at OU's prestigious School of Meteorology (SoM). Nguyen's imagery is represented by the stock photo agency Corbis Int'l which notes that the Mulvane, Kansas tornado image is "Widely considered among stormchasers as the greatest tornado photo of all time..." A five-week exhibition of Nguyen's photography was held at th
Todd/Browning Gallery
in Los Angeles from March 15-April 23.

Death

Nguyen died in

Arlington, Texas Arlington is a city in Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, Texas, United States. It is part of the Mid-Cities region of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan statistical area, and is a principal c ...

, on September 9, 2007, as a result of injuries sustained during a suicide attempt on August 27, 2007. Nguyen suffered a sudden relapse of a mental illness and experienced severe negative reactions to anti-depressant medication.

Publications

Nguyen authored and coauthored scientific publications and conference papers as well as the photography book, ''Adventures in Tornado Alley: The Storm Chasers.'' Publications include: * * Richard Ferrare, Edward Browell, Syed Ismail, Susan Kooi, Vince Brackett, Hank Revercomb, Bob Knuteson, Paolo Antonelli, Noah Misch, Jonathan Gleason, Eric Nguyen, Scott Currens, 2004: ''Airborne Lidar Measurements of Water Vapor and Aerosol Fields Over The Southern Great Plains During IHOP Field Experiment.'' 22nd International Laser Radar Conference, Metera, Italy. * Victoria Sankovich, G. Shaw, J. Gleason, S. Newsome, E. Nguyen, R. A. Ferrare, E. V. Browell, S. Ismail, S. Kooi, V. G. Brackett, H. Revercomb, B. Knuteson, and P. Antonelli, 2004
''Characterization and Visualization of Water Vapor and Atmospheric Stability During the IHOP Field Experiment.''
2nd Symposium on Lidar Atmospheric Applications, San Diego, CA. * Blair, S. F., and E. M. Nguyen, 2005
''An examination of the 12 June 2004 Mulvane, Kansas tornado.''
Preprints, 4th Annual Southeast Severe Storms Symposium, Starkville, Mississippi, CD-ROM.

References

External links

Eric Nguyen's Homepage of Meteorology & Storm Observing
(Nguyen's Website)

(Amos Magliocco's website)
Eric Nguyen's imagery
(Corbis International gallery)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nguyen, Eric American meteorologists University of Oklahoma alumni Storm chasers 1978 births 2007 deaths American landscape photographers Amateur radio people People from Newport Beach, California People from Keller, Texas