A meteorologist from Maryland proposed to his boyfriend as a tornado twirled. Because, well, what could be a more romantic and dramatic backdrop?
On May 28, Joey Krastel, 27, journeyed with his boyfriend Chris Scott, 23, and some friends on a “storm chasing” trip in Kansas, where they were following weather reports that conditions were ripe for producing those sexy funnels. Unbeknownst to the group, Krastel was packing a surprise in his twister-tracking gear: an engagement ring.
Krastel and Scott met online, where they chatted about their mutual fascination with seeing big storms up close. After they met in person, the duo started taking their exhilarating (and dangerous) storm chasing trips together. As Krastel told NBC News: “It was always in the back of my mind to get engaged during storm chasing…I felt like it would be this perfect way to seal the deal.”
It took a while to find the right storm, however. Krastel gathered his group in Dallas, where they began in a car chasing stormy weather through Oklahoma to New Mexico. Without any tornadoes spotted that day, they then turned back east and drove to Kansas, where storm fronts teased with impressive clouds. And then along happened that Tipton tornado, spinning in the middle of a field, close enough to see but far enough to not get blown away to Oz.
It was the perfect storm, forgive the pun, for the big moment.
“It all just kind of came together and happened so quickly,” Krastel said. “I was like ‘OK, this is it.’”
One of Krastel’s friends snapped the photo of the proposal, which Krastel posted on his Twitter account with the caption “The 2 loves of my life.”
The 2 loves of my life pic.twitter.com/Cv4eviechZ
— Joey Krastel (@NimbusStorms) May 29, 2019
Storm chasers have been swarming all over the Great Plains, where wild weather patterns have produced approximately 10 tornadoes a day every day for almost two weeks. Just an hour after Krastel’s friend took this photo, an EF4 tornado (the Enhanced Fujita scale has a maximum rating of five), with a cone that was a mile wide and winds blowing at 170 miles per hour, blasted through the town of Linwood, where it literally tore houses from their foundations and blew them to smithereens.
Linwood residents had enough warning to retreat to their storm shelters and basements (although how safe is a basement if the house is torn off?). This tornado did not cause a single death, but take a look at this video from a reporter:
— Len Jennings (@lenjenningsKMBC) May 29, 2019
Tornadoes kill an average of 60 people each year in the U.S., and occasionally that includes storm chasers. All jokes aside, these storms really are dangerous. Fortunately, Scott said “yes” to the marriage proposal, eliminating the possibility that Krastel would have driven away and left him behind to run for his life.
If they adopt a puppy, they must name it Tipton. Because that’s just too cute.
Congrats to the happy couple!
Black Pegasus
So thousands of people are having their lives turned absolutely upside down by these dangerous storms and these two attention whores thought it would be cute to stage a photo-op for some likes on social media.
They disgust me.
gayguypie
You do know what Storm chasers are right? They are doing what they love, just like many other storm chasers do. And one of them is a meteorologist, so weather is his job. They weren’t taking a photo for attention they were taking it because they were doing what they loved with who they loved and now they have that moment captured forever. They didn’t minimize the fact that people were hurt, so stop trying to make everyone out to be a villain.
DavidIntl
Some people are just hopelessly bitter. I was born in Oklahoma – I have run for my life from a tornado, and seen my mom injured in the process. But it is just silly to say that this proposal was in any way inappropriate. My only complaint would be with all of these creative, well-thought out, spectacular proposals we keep seeing on social media – which I feel have raised the bar to an impractically high level. Probably part of the reason that I am not yet engaged to my partner is that I haven’t been able to think of a sufficiently spectacular way to handle that proposal, now that expectations have gotten so high.
Chipper
Then may we suggest you go away. There was nothing wrong with what they did. Sometimes something such as this will give people hope while tragedy is all around. They risk their lives to keep the public informed, Or are you just jealous, it was not you there?
Smith David
I really can’t anymore….inappropriate!
Dan Renzi
Just to clarify: storm chasers provide a vital service in tracking storms. They send initial reports to the weather service and local news stations about funnel clouds, which may not be picked up on radar, before they touch down and become tornadoes. Storm chasers warned the media about the other tornado that day in Kansas, in Linwood, where everybody had enough time to hide and nobody was killed–despite it being one of the biggest and most destructive tornadoes in the state’s history. In addition, Joey Krastel is a professional meteorologist, so he isn’t just driving around looking to get sucked into a tornado. Most people should not be outside watching tornadoes, but storm chasers assume a lot of risk in exchange for being a part of a larger team that has a purpose.
Dan Renzi
Also on Krastel’s Twitter feed was a post from another storm chaser, who sent a probe into a tornado to record data:
https://twitter.com/ReedTimmerAccu/status/1134115443470413824
Gary Q VV
It’s appropriate for these two lovers to take a few short moments to make a big step in their lives and get engaged while doing that which they love; it’s a concurrent event of love. Why would anybody find negativity in love. Wow, some people are so full of hate and despair that they… well, I’ll leave that thought to the reader.
nitejonboy
I think it’s beautiful, god bless them, may they be forever happy together.