Biography

Jim Leonard was born on February 17, 1950 in Miami Beach, Florida, USA. He was a cinematographer, known for The Day After Tomorrow (2004), Raging Planet (1997) and Tornado Video Classics (1992). He died on November 3, 2014 in West Palm Beach, Florida, USA.

In 1975 he captured the first known motion picture of an anticyclonic (clockwise rotating in the Northern Hemisphere) tornado.

He was a professional photographer and videographer who specialized in capturing severe weather, such as hurricanes, tornadoes, waterspouts, and lightning. He began his career in the early 1970s and his footage appeared in countless weather films and television shows. Storm chasing was his life long passion, it is said that he witnessed more severe weather than anyone else on Earth.

Had residences in Florida, Guam, and Oklahoma at various times so he could chase hurricanes and typhoons over extended seasons and in the latter so he could be close to Great Plains severe thunderstorms.