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Storm chasers honor "Twister" star Bill Paxton with GPS tribute

Posted at 2:03 PM, Feb 26, 2017
and last updated 2017-02-26 17:07:04-05
GILLIAN FLACCUS
Associated Press
 
Nearly 200 storm chasers are paying tribute to the late actor Bill Paxton by spelling out his initials using GPS coordinates on a map depicting the heart of Tornado Alley.
 
The effort coordinated Sunday by Spotter Network spelled out "BP" to honor the leading man in the disaster movie "Twister," which inspired a generation of storm chasers.
 
John Wetter, the nonprofit's president, says storm chasers have spelled out the initials of fellow chasers four or five times before but never a non-chaser.
 
Most people participating did not travel, but they instead entered GPS coordinates manually to spell the letters on a map centered around Wakita, Oklahoma.
 
In the movie, Paxton plays a storm chaser who's researching tornados during a twister outbreak in Oklahoma.
 
Paxton's death at age 61 was announced Sunday.