Most of the events of Twister take place over the course of a single day, which begins with Bill giving Jo divorce papers to sign in the morning, and only ends after they've had several very close calls while hunting tornadoes. When night comes, Jo, Bill, Melissa, and the rest of the team check into a motel. Jo has been actively avoiding signing Bill's divorce papers, as teaming up with her ex-husband again to try and deploy her new monitoring system, called DOROTHY, has further reinforced what she's suspected since they separated: She's still in love with him. Sadly, Bill seems committed to moving on with his life, so she relents and ultimately prepares to make their divorce final.
That is, until the town they are staying in is ravaged by a massive tornado. It passes, but leaves both physical and emotional destruction in its wake. Having been dragged all over the state and put in a series of dangerous situations because of Bill's impulsive desire to chase storms again, Melissa realizes that he and Jo have something that she and Bill never will. Melissa officially breaks things off with Bill and returns home.
Meanwhile, Jo races to the nearby home of her Aunt Meg (Lois Smith), which she fears was in the path of the storm.
