PBS’s NOVA set to premiere new film ‘Rain Bombs’

NOVA, PBS’s long-running science documentary, will premiere a short film about the weather phenomenon called “Rain Bombs.” The film sets out to discover why these wet microbursts occur and how meteorologists can better predict them.

Mike Oblinski, a local storm chaser and professional photographer, joined “Arizona Horizon” to talk about the filming of “Rain Bombs”.

“In reality a lot of us say we’re chased by the storm most of the time especially when it’s supercells and tornados and tennis ball sized hail ,” Oblinski said. “Even the haboobs we’ve seen coming, I’m usually trying to stay ahead of them.”

On bright, sunny days when the public is being informed by meteorologists that a storm will be coming later that day, Oblinski, and storm chasers like him, look at models, the national weather service discussions and years of on-the-job experience to know what to look for. More importantly, he knows what storm to chase when atypical weather does appear.

“It comes down to instinct,” Oblinski said. “Especially here [in Arizona], the monsoon, is a tough thing to chase.”

Monsoon season in Arizona begins in June and lasts till the end of September, according to the Arizona Department of Transportation. Monsoons typically bring higher humidity, thunderstorms and heavy rain.

Oblinski added, “I was doing the big dust storm we had last year, August 25th, I was down north of Tucson watching this downburst happen and I look to my right and see this faint wall of dust emerging from the distance. And I’m like ‘that’s it’.”

Oblinkski recorded his experience chasing the haboob that began in Pima County and ripped through Maricopa and even southern parts of Yavapai counties in a 17-minute vlog.

Arizona is not the only place Oblinski storm chases as he typically goes to the Great Plains area during tornado season, which begins around April.

“I chase May and June, that’s the heart of the season and then come home in July and and chase [in Arizona] all the way until October,” Oblinski said.

To learn more about storm chasers and Oblinski’s experiences with microbursts, NOVA “Rain Bombs” will premiere on Wednesday, April 22 at 9pm ET (8PM CT) on PBS.