On 18 May 2009, Discovery Channel renewed Storm Chasers for a third season which began airing in the Fall of 2009. Reed Timmer and the TVN team return with their new "SRV Dominator" vehicle. Dr. Josh Wurman and his DOW team have now joined the massive, government-funded VORTEX2 research project, leaving them with little time to aid filmmaker Sean Casey. Casey and his TIV team return in their improved TIV2, and are now assisted by a new team of meteorologists in TIV Doghouse (a Dodge Ram 2500 equipped with weather radar, GPS and HD filming equipment). A new team known as TWISTEX led by veteran storm chaser Tim Samaras along with Carl Young and Tony Laubach join the series driving TWISTEX Probe (a modified 2003 GMC Sierra Denali) and Twistex M1-M3 (three modified Chevy Cobalts). Also returning are Danny Cheresnick and Aaron Ruppert in their SCOUT vehicle (a new 2009 Jeep Wrangler replaces the old Nissan Pathfinder).
Timmer's new SRV Dominator is heavily modified version of the Chevy Tahoe used in the previous season. The vehicle now features thin armor shell composed of sheet metal and lexan, giving it an appearance similar to Sean Casey's TIV1. While the new armor allows Timmer and his team to get much closer to a tornado than a conventional vehicle, it cannot actually drive into one like the heavier TIV vehicles. Other additions to Timmer's team include a new advanced radar and an experimental remote controlled aircraft with a 12-foot wingspan, designed to fly around tornadoes with an advanced auto-pilot system, and drop small probes into tornadoes.
The first episode starts with the TVN crew explaining their new vehicle the "SRV Dominator" which is a heavy modified Chevy Tahoe, made like the TIV, but not heavy or strong enough to actually drive into a tornado. While TVN was on their first chase they were able to get close to and record a EF-2 tornado in Oklahoma. Meanwhile, Sean explained his new chase crew does not feature anybody from last season other than the TIV crew. While on their first chase, Sean's team gets lost and misses the first tornado of the season.
The Vortex 2 team (Josh Wurman and the DOW, the Walkers, the Scout team, and others) did not appear until the 3rd episode, and do not appear again until the 7th episode.
