'Tornado interceptor' movie, crew storm into Raleigh

We're exclted about the next couple of days here at WRAL. Of course, the big changes in the weather have us worked up, but we've got a special weather surprise in store for you. We're hosting the crew from an exciting new film, "Tornado Alley 3D."

The movie opens to the public on Saturday at 10 a.m. in the new WRAL 3D Theater, part of the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences in downtown Raleigh!

The film documents one man's mission to get pictures from inside a tornado, and without giving too much away, let's just say he was successful!

But it took a lot work, including a custom-built vehicle he built to help him get the job done. The Tornado Intercept Vehicle, or TIV, weighs some seven tons and is covered in reinforced steel and bulletproof glass. The filmmaker, Sean Casey, built it to take him and his video camera inside a tornado, and with a mission like that, you can imagine all that steel and bulletproof glass will come in handy!

The TIV — as well as Sean and others with the film — will be in town over the next couple of days. If you can make it out to the museum on Saturday to see the film, you can meet Sean and take a look around inside the TIV while you're there!

Between now and then, we've got a full trip lined for the TIV and her crew, as well as a mobile radar system called the "Doppler on Wheels," or DOW. They visited with a group of meteorology students at N.C. State on Wednesday afternoon, and Thursday, we'll all head down to visit the students at Ben Martin Elementary School in Fayetteville.

You might remember Ben Martin from our stories back in April and May — the school was heavily damaged by the April 16 tornadoes. We'll be showing the students there the film in advance of the big opening on Saturday, and we'll take the chance to check in to see how everyone there is doing.