In the present day, the National Severe Storms Laboratory is predicting a record outbreak of tornadoes in Oklahoma over a 24 hour period. An adult Jo, now a meteorologist, is reunited with her estranged husband, Bill Harding, a former weather researcher and storm chaser, who has since become a popular television weather reporter. He has a brand new Dodge Ram pickup truck and is planning to marry reproductive therapist Melissa Reeves, but cannot do so until Jo fully signs her long overdue divorce papers. Jo has built four identical tornado research devices called DOROTHY that was designed by Bill, which contain hundreds of sensors that, if picked up by a tornado, will create revolutionary breakthroughs in meteorology research. Before Jo can finish the paperwork, her team rushes to intercept a nearby forming F1 tornado, forcing Bill and Melissa to chase after her. However, Bill encounters Dr. Jonas Miller, a corporate-funded meteorologist and long-time rival storm chaser. When Bill learns that Jonas has created a device called DOT-3, a blatant copy of DOROTHY, he vows to help Jo deploy DOROTHY before Jonas can deploy DOT-3 and claim credit for the idea.
