The SRV Dominator is a series of tornado interceptors owned, operated, and maintained by meteorologist Reed Timmer, with funding partially provided by AccuWeather and the Discovery Channel.
[3] Dominator 1 is not designed to intercept (due mainly to a lack of an anchoring system as employed on the TIV 2) but is able to get as close as "humanly possible" to tornadoes.
In 2018, Dominator 1 was left in the parking lot of Tornado Safe, an Oklahoma City company that built storm shelters.
Dominator 1 had suffered damage sustained from sitting such as faded Lexan windows, Timmer losing the keys and other various repairs needed.
Changes from Dominator 1 are said to include a flex fuel engine, improved aerodynamic streamlining thanks to the fully sealed outer shell, higher ride height, swiveling rear passenger seats, improved hydraulics, and upgraded armor protection as well as anchoring spikes that could allow it to engage tornadoes stronger than those Dominator 1 could safely face.
[8] Dominator 2 features reinforced sheet metal and transparent Lexan has been strengthened with higher-quality steel and an additional LINE-X coating.
According to KFOR-TV, posts by Reed on Facebook, and as shown in Season 2, episodes 11 and 12 of Tornado Chasers, the hood was ripped off of the vehicle when the Dominator 2 collided with a downed power line.
Reed later learned that TWISTEX founder Tim Samaras, his son Paul, and storm chasing partner Carl Young, were fatalities of the El Reno tornado.
The vehicle features an electric winch, airbag lowering suspension, hydraulic anchoring spikes, and gull-wing doors (which were augmented with touch-activated actuators in early 2014) for the driver, front and rear passengers.
Timmer has documented the car's many dents and dings sustained while chasing storms, including hail damage and encounters with tornadoes.
In June 2024, while chasing a tornado in Texas, the engine on the replacement Dominator Fore seized up,[14] and the vehicle was subsequently scrapped.