'Storm Chasers' star says future of weather reporting is on mobile, social media

LOS ANGELES – Reed Timmer – star of Discovery’s hit series “Storm Chasers” -- is turning his attention away from television and toward social and mobile media for his new project on the the web site TVNWeather.com.

“The new series is ‘Tornado Chasers.' We are doing broadcast podcasts and severe weather bulletins, traditional forms of media, and making it weather coverage,” Timmer told FOX411’s Pop Tarts column. “The series is filmed with extreme tornado action, and it has the science element, but it also shows the life of storm chasing, which is having no personal life, and living out of Motel 6’s, and driving 80,000 miles nonstop, and many sacrifices. If you don’t love storms, this could be really depressing.”

Timmer says that these days, it is best to check Twitter – not your television – for the latest lowdown on wild weather.

“A lot of the warning processes are changing to social media, forecasts, etc. We post tornado warnings to Facebook and Twitter accounts,” he said. “Everyone is mobile now, and they don’t watch as much local news. I think social media is the future of weather reporting.”

Timmer said he's excited to be on his own after finding fame on Discovery.

“The series and website, it is the American Dream. There is no middle man, we are funding it ourselves and the production company and us together are our own network," he said. "We’ve driven through so many tornados, and our camera operator from Discovery is now our camera man, and one of my best friends.”

But whether on TV or new media, for Timmer, the thrill of the chase is the same.

“The most rewarding thing is when you drop the hydraulics, the spikes go into the air and everything works and no one gets hurt. We love the science aspect, but we love the human aspect,” Timmer said. “I’ve watched the weather since I was about five years old, and I was a major science nerd growing up. I was obsessed with all science, but especially extreme weather.”

Danielle Jones-Wesley contributed to this report.