Naftel, Blake William 2023-10-09

This interview features Blake Naftel as he discusses his interest in storm chasing and how that interest led to him making an anthology documentary about storm chasing. In this interview, Naftel explains his early interest in weather and storms, and how that interest evolved over the years. He describes how he met meteorologists and storm chasers, his college career, jobs he held, and memorable storms he chased. Naftel outlines his storm chasing anthology, completing the anthology documentary, his job at AccuWeather, and the collection he is donating to the Southwest Collection. Naftel touches upon other topics such as the 2013 El Reno tornado, crowdfunding his documentary, and the COVID-19 pandemic.

General Interview Information

Interviewee Name: Blake William Naftel

Additional Parties Recorded:

Date: October 9, 2023

Location: Lubbock, Texas

Interviewer: Monte Monroe

Length: 02:52:15 (2 hours 52 minutes)

Abstract

Introduction and background information; How he got interested and involved in meteorology; Other interests in childhood; learning about storm chasing; Meeting meteorologists and storm chasers; early storm chasing ventures; Working as a production assistant; getting paid for storm chasing; Shamrock, Texas tornado and meeting a girl; dangers of hydroplaning; Anthology and background on tornado documentaries; Interviewing with news stations; graduating and getting a job at WLFI; Storm chasers interviewed for his anthology; different jobs; 2013 El Reno tornado; laying the groundwork for his documentary; crowdfunding the anthology; starting interviews; Splitting the travel for interviews; logging tape; What he’s done after finishing the anthology documentary; How the COVID-19 pandemic impacted him and his path since; What the future holds for him

Access Information

Original Recording Format: born digital

Recording Format Notes: patrons may listen to audio in our reading room

Transcript: transcript available on dspace <https://hdl.handle.net/10605/375355 >

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