Former Storm Chasers star Joel Taylor has sadly passed away at the age of 38.

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Joel's former Storm Chasers co-star, Reed Timmer, announced the death of his close friend Tuesday night on Twitter.

"We chased so many intense storms, and I wish we could have just one more storm to chase," tweeted Reed, who attended the University of Oklahoma with Joel. "I'll miss you forever, Joel. We lost a legend."

The cause of Joel's death remains unclear; however, People reported that his passing was unrelated to storm chasing.

Team Western OK Chaser, a media company dedicated to storm chasing, also posted some kind words about Joel's legacy on social media.

"Our community of Elk City and the Storm Chasing community lost a great guy today. Joel Taylor was truly an inspiration to myself and many who knew him. He was one of the most level headed chasers on the roads and truly a classy guy outside of chasing," the group wrote on Facebook.

"He didn't chase for the glory, he chased because he had a true passion for storms. In the last few years he'd load up with his dad and go chase and not even take a camera. Our hearts are hurting for his mom Tracy and dad Jimmy along with his brother and sister and their children."

The group added that Joel's death is being investigated by medical professionals and it will be "quite a while" before the cause is determined.

Joel and Reed chased tornadoes in 2003 for the documentary Tornado Glory, according to The Kansas City Star, and they went on to star in Storm Chasers four years later. The pair also taped another documentary together called Tornado Chasers.

Joel joined Storm Chasers for Season 2 back in 2008 as part of the team from the website TornadoVideos.Net that was led by Reed.

Storm Chasers was filmed in the area known as Tornado Alley due to the frequency of tornadoes in the central part of the United States.

The show ran for five seasons and aired on the Discovery Channel annually from 2007 to 2011. Storm Chasers was canceled in January 2012.

Joel unfortunately isn't the first person to die from the Storm Chasers franchise. Former stars Tim Samaras and Carl Young, along with Tim's son Paul Samaras, were killed while following a tornado in El Reno, OK, in Summer 2013.

The three men were among the 13 fatalities caused by the storm they had been chasing. Tim was 54 when he died, Carl was 45 years old, and Paul was only 24.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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