Storm Stories

Storm Stories
Format	Documentary/Drama
Presented by	Jim Cantore
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	67
Production
Running time	30 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	The Weather Channel
Picture format	480i (SD) 1080i (HD)
Original run	January 6, 2003 (2003-01-06) – present
External links
Website

Storm Stories is a non-fiction television series aired on The Weather Channel and Zone Reality hosted and narrated by meteorologist and Storm-Tracker Jim Cantore. Storm Stories showcases various types of severe weather, such as tornadoes, hurricanes, and blizzards. Each episode features a famous severe storm and had survivors sharing their experience during the storm. The program also featured real footage of the storm, but typically a re-enactment would be used because no footage is available. The videos would often play while the survivors offer their account of what is being shown. Often, TWC would air a special week dedicated to one specific type of storm.

A syndicated version of Storm Stories is distributed by Litton Entertainment to television stations around the country. The syndicated Storm Stories includes co-branding opportunities for local stations to place local weather anchors (normally to discuss the topic that the episode is based on) and current news into the program.^[1] Some syndicated episodes never aired on The Weather Channel. In 2009, NBC Universal (owner of TWC) announced it would sell all of Litton's national ads for its syndicated shows, including Storm Stories.^[2]

Side Shows

• Aside from the normal series, there was also a series known as Animal Storm Stories which features storms affecting the well-being of animals
• Also, aside from the normal series, A weekly series known as Coast Guard Storm Stories premiered on January 15, 2006. This series details the United States Coast Guard and their work during natural disasters, including Hurricane Katrina.

Program history

Storm Stories launched on 6 January 2003 as the first true serial long-form program on The Weather Channel. The groundwork for these long-form programs was laid by Atmospheres, a long-form program that aired from 2000 to 2003 and signaled the beginning of a change in paradigm at The Weather Channel. Storm Stories, in turn, was the predecessor to a variety of long-form programs on The Weather Channel, including It Could Happen Tomorrow (2006), Epic Conditions (2007), and When Weather Changed History (2008).

Formerly, Storm Stories featured commercial breaks with the channel's signature Local on the 8s localized forecast. Since 15 December 2005, an L-bar/corner forecast has appeared for those with the IntelliStar, and a satellite L-bar forecast airs for those with Weather Stars that do not support the L-bar (the Weather Star XL and older models) or those without Weather Stars.

In some episodes, the old TWC logo (1996-2005) was used during the question at the end, which is most difficult to stretch the current TWC logo on the lower display line of the Weather Star XL or IntelliStar, and after the credits, they used the old 2003 graphic of The Weather Channel logo before a one-minute Local Forecast. This graphic was removed late in the run.

Some of the episodes included aircraft crashes caused by weather including Air France Flight 358, American Airlines Flight 1420 and US Airways Flight 1016.

In Mid-2007, Storm Stories got a brand new look on its intro; also, the new episodes now contain computer animated graphics showing the weather situation, and the ending question has also changed its format. In October 2007, the channel moved the show to 2-3 p.m. ET. However, after the network began its transition to HD programming on June 2, 2008, the series no longer aired on the network.

The show returned to TWC on February 22, 2009 with 26 all-new episodes. Episodes of the series have been released on DVD.

List of episodes

Main article: List of Storm Stories episodes

Special "Weeks" of Storm Stories

Tornado Week

A week about tornado stories; such as the 1999 Oklahoma tornado outbreak and 1998 Nashville tornado outbreak.

Heroes of the Storm

7 days about everyday people and how they saved lives during nature at its worst.

Hurricane Week

7 days of dangerous or deadly hurricanes from Andrew to Ivan, also including typhoons and a tropical storm.

The Christmas Tree Ship

A holiday storm story made for all ages talking about how people survived a November blizzard on Lake Michigan and how they kept the spirit of Christmas.

Tornado Week: State of Chaos

A week like the original Tornado Week but all about tornadoes in chaos with Vortex 2: The great tornado hunt coverage

Survival Week

A week about survival tips on the worst types of weather, and stories of people in life-threatening stories and shows such as Vortex 2: Target tornado, and more.

Schedule

All times are eastern time.

Weekdays

• 05:00pm-05:30pm
• 05:30pm-06:00pm

Tuesdays

• 8:00pm-8:30pm
• 8:30pm-9:00pm
• 11:00pm-11:30pm
• 11:30pm-12:00am
• 2:00am-2:30am
• 2:30am-3:00am

References

1. ^ http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/162764-Street_Court_firm_go_for_fall.php?rssid=20065
2. ^ http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/189405-NBC_Universal_To_Sell_Litton_s_National_Ads.php?rssid=20068

External links

• Storm Stories at the Internet Movie Database
• Storm Stories at TV.com