Dan Hatch is the main character and narrator of the story. He’s 12 years old and describes himself as “one of those yellow-haired, freckle-faced types” (18). He’s not “short and fat” (18) like his best friend Arthur, although Dan’s mom used to call the two of them her “twins” (18) before Dan’s baby brother was born. Dan considers himself “a doer,” rather than “a thinker” (18) like Arthur, seeing himself as a person of action. He loves bikes and spends most of his time riding around with Arthur. As Dan’s dad once told him, they were both “born on wheels” (111). Dan spends most of his time with Arthur and they are together at Dan’s house when the twisters hit. He has a crush on Arthur’s sister, Stacey, that grows stronger during and after the storm.

Arthur is Dan’s best friend. According to Dan, Arthur is “smart” and “he studies things” (7), or, as Arthur puts it, “he cogitates” (7). The social studies teacher calls him “the Original Gazer” (8). When she asks him one day in class what he’s thinking about, he says “freedom” (8) in a factual, non-sarcastic way. He’s a “thinker” (18) who is “crazy about books” (18).