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Sharknado inspired by studying real-life weather patterns

The mastermind behind the campy shark movie thriller turned social media sensation “Sharknado” came up with the concept after studying real-life weather patterns — inspiration that could prompt a possible prequel, he said.

Screenwriter Thunder Levin said he penned the Syfy made-for-TV movie — which features a tornado of great white sharks raining down upon LA — after reading about global warming.

“To be honest, there’s a reality and science basis to everything. I just sort of took a concept and kept going. Los Angeles has never been hit by a hurricane and there’s reasonable evidence that global warming might lead to such a thing someday,” he said.

To dream up the idea he simply took the disaster concept and made it more extreme, he said.

“I thought, if the ocean was flooding the city, why wouldn’t sharks start swimming into the city — where the feeding was good? And the next logical thing would be, you know, hurricanes spin off into tornadoes..So why couldn’t they suck up sharks?” Levin said.

He added, “There are documented cases of fish falling from the sky after being sucked up into the air by meteorological phenomenon. I don’t see why people would have a problem with it.”

“It’s perfectly logical!”

Despite the obvious logic, Levin said that weather experts have contacted him to dispute the accuracy of his films.

“I’ve had a couple times where people have called me complaining about the meteorological inaccuracies of my work. With a movie called Sharknado, I don’t think they’re taking it in the proper spirit,” he said.

The unexpected hit flick stars Tara Reid of “American Pie” and Ziering of “Beverly Hills 90210,” who is featured in an unforgettable scene in which he saws his way out of the belly of a shark.

Levin said he loves the idea of a prequel — but has not yet met with SyFy execs.

“If we were to do [a sequel], perhaps we’d go with prequel,” he said.