Storm chaser is killed in collision on Oklahoma's Turner Turnpike

One of the two people who died Saturday in a head-on crash on the Turner Turnpike near Sapulpa was a storm chaser for a national TV show.

Names of those involved in the crash were not released by the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, but The Weather Channel's website reported that Andy Gabrielson, 24, was killed in the crash.

Gabrielson, a frequent contributor to The Weather Channel, also was one of several storm chasers on the show Tornado Hunt, which features meteorologist Mike Bettes.

Gabrielson was heading home after chasing storms in Texas during the past two days, The Weather Channel reported.

“He had left Oklahoma City this afternoon and he was on his way to visit another storm chaser and a friend in Pittsburg, Kan.,” friend and business associate Kory Hartman said Saturday night.

“He would spent about half of his year based out of Oklahoma City just so he could storm chase,” Hartman said.

Gabrielson was planning to return home to Luverne, Minn., either Tuesday or Wednesday, Hartman said. He last spoke with Gabrielson about noon Saturday, and spoke to his father just after the Minnesota Highway Patrol reported his death Saturday evening.

“I would say he was the best tornado videographer in the world, hands down,” Hartman said. “Among professional storm chasers, he was a chaser's chaser. One thing that he always said was, ‘Don't waste resources helping me if I'm in the path of the tornado. Go help the family across the street.'”

He was also a trained weather spotter who reported severe weather to the National Weather Service at the same time he was chasing it.

“I don't think there was one tornado ever that the weather service didn't know about immediately. He put in his public service as well as the videography and making sales,” Hartman said.

Gabrielson leaves behind his parents and a 3-year-old daughter.

A motorist driving into oncoming eastbound traffic struck a second vehicle head-on near U.S. 66, said patrol Lt. George Brown. Two other vehicles also were involved in the crash, and there were multiple injuries reported.

No other details about the crash were available Saturday.