2008 in review: How was it for you?

[Tim Vasquez]

For you personally, how was 2008 compared to previous seasons? What were your highlights and big catches?

Tim

 

[Dean Baron]

like im sure many others will say, not a whole lot of pics. overall not a bad year, lots of busts the latter part of the season in July and August as is expected that part of the year. Big catches was nice wall cloud and lots of hail about 30 miles northwest of Minneapolis, and being on the storm that produced an EF2 just south of Spencer on June 11th, although we never actually saw it because of the extreme HP nature of the storm (we were within 1-2 miles of it and didnt know the storm produced until we saw damage just south of Spencer).

 

[Bill Hark]

Tim,

Tim, this was my best year ever in terms of tornadoes and structure. The two Quinter area tornadoes on May 23 made the entire season. The chasing was difficult due to fast moving storms, poor visibility and road networks but I managed to obtain great footage in HD.
The massive meso/collar cloud south of Collyer, KS on May 22 was awesome and better than many tornadoes that I have seen. Finally, a punctured tire kept me from getting close to the supercell west of Beloit, KS on May 29th but allowed to see the best structure that I have ever seen.

Unlike many years, I didn't sit under a massive death ridge. I often arrive just after an outbreak, then sit under a ridge with nothing or chase "scraps" at the edge of the ridge in the Dakotas. This year, I delayed my trip until conditions improve and actually hit some of the "big days." Finally, this year was notable for the small area that I saw my best storms. I wasn't in North Dakota then trying for stuff in SW Texas in a couple of days.


Bill Hark
http://www.harkphoto.com

 

[Dustin Wilcox]

Absolutely amazing year for me, could have had a few more days throughout the summer and I would say the number of good chase days seemed limited, though seemed when there was a good chase day, they turned out to be Great days. May 22nd was amazing as I filmed and was able to safely get close intercepts on MULTIPLE tornadoes, from cones to stovepipes to Barrel's to multi-vortexes and massive wedges, and then that was immediately followed up by the 23rd and Several Tornadoes again in NW KS. Then the 29th Glen Elder storm I was able to film awesome tornadoes from an extremely close range. Those 3 days alone were probably the top 3 tornado days I have ever had, those days alone allowed me to produce a New Chase DVD; when one throws in four other mediocre tornado days I had, I am relatively pleased with 2008. I will admit though, the nature of the storms on the Great days made for somewhat difficult filming/photography situations, though that did little to take away from the excitement.

Tornado Count ?? I seriously lost count on May 22nd

 

[Jason Boggs]

Doesn't even compare to 07 for me anyway. 07 Was BY FAR the best year for me in my 10 year career as a chaser.

 

[Danny Cheresnick]

Finally, a punctured tire kept me from getting close to the supercell west of Beloit, KS on May 29th but allowed to see the best structure that I have ever seen.

Bill, is that second photo from May 29? What was the location of it? Thats an incredible view. I'm only curious since we were under/behind it and only briefly got in front enough to see structure. We were really impressed with what we could see, but it was only glimpses in low light. I vividly remember looking up at the meso and updraft illuminated by lightning as we followed the storm northeast for a while after dark, but unfortunately I lack a camera that could really capture any images.

 

[Shane Adams]

For you personally, how was 2008 compared to previous seasons? What were your highlights and big catches?

Overall, 2008 was a good year for me. I had a lot of success, although it seemed video-wise something was always in the way of me getting the really great shots. Lots of distant tornadoes, low-contrast situations, and unphotogenic tornadoes. But I still managed to come away with some decent material.

Big catch of the year was the May 22-24 Hat Trick, highlighted by an 11-tornado day on May 24.

2008 Statistics

CHASES: 25
MILES: 12,041
AVERAGE CHASE DISTANCE: 482 miles
TORNADO DAYS: 8 (March 30 * April 9 * April 23 * May 1 * May 22 * May 23 * May 24 * May 26)
TORNADOES: 24*
SUCCESS RATIO: 1 in 3.1
STATES CHASED: AR,KS,OK,TX

*career high

 

[Adam Lucio]

2008 was an awesome year for me. So far my best, but one that can easily be topped. Being able to contribute to the SO200_ DVDs has been a goal of mien for years, one which was finally achieved this year.

14 chases makes it a "career" high. I had my first long distance solo chase (feb 5th.) I Learned a tough lesson about muddy fields which caused me to miss the quinter-fest. I also met and chatted with some great chasers from all parts of the country. Its been a very pleasent experience, since I began in 2005 each year has been better and better.

The catch of the year for me is June 7th, and only 15 miles from home! My best intercept yet.

Emerging from the core to see the amazing striated meso.

Tornado at its widest point just before crossing busy I-57.

This of course brought another tough lesson in regards to dealing with media. Getting a tour of the studio/interview done was a neat experience I wouldnt take back...but rest assured...they aint gettin it for free next time.

Chases: 14
Tornadoes: 4
Largest hail-core: 1.50"

Just 4 days ago, my beloved chase vehicle blew a head gasket. Picture is from May 25th near Bison KS. A storm which produced a rather weird tornado that seemed to jut out of the side of the RFD region rather than this awesome wall cloud.

So its time for something new. Most likely a Jeep Commander, possibly a Ford Expedition. See everyone in '09!

 

[Chris Hayes]

2008 was my best year of chasing by far! We saw between 6 and 9 tornados and NUMEROUS supercells with only 1 or 2 bust days out of about 10 or so chase days. We might have seen a tornado on May 22nd, but not sure, so I wont even count it. The big was of course May 23 with 2 tornados near Quinter (not including the EF4), and 1 or 2 tornados further south after Quinter. Then saw 2 or 3 tornados in Oklahoma on May 24. Saw the Bison tornado on May 25. Then saw our last tornado of the year on May 29 with one of the Kearney tornados. The supercell structure (primarily HP) for the year was truely awesome. The icing on the cake for the year was the lightning photography I was able to do. Before this year, I only had like 40-50 lightning pictures that are keepers, I know have over 160.

 

[Steve Miller TX]

2008 was a good year for me and a year of several "firsts". I caught two tornadoes and 3 weak landpouts.

April 7th was my first live stream of a tornado (albeit a brief one...lol) along with Jay McCoy. Later, got to see this beauty in Archer County, TX.

May 23 was a nice, photogenic tornado day up near Fort Supply/Buffalo Oklahoma. I was able to get some great video from the mature stage to rope. Since the tornado was literally stationary, the video made for some decent time-lapse.

The bonus was that the early stages of the parent storm was a real beauty as it first exploded along the dryline near Canadian, TX. It was a shot I've been trying to get for quite awhile. I've since carefully cropped out the powerlines so I can hang this on my wall.

May 25th, David Drummond and I saw one of the most bizarre sights either of us have ever seen. The best way to describe it was a big, invisble vacuum cleaner over a large dirt field in Kansas. It looked like some sort of Hollywood special effect. You gotta see the video to appreciate it.

May 26, David and I caught a wispy mutli-vortex tornado near Pratt, KS after getting cored by baseball hail for the first time ever. Video caught some trees getting ripped and lifted straight up into the air. One tree was kept aloft for quite a long time.

June 17th was the biggest hail I've ever seen in my life...up to grapefruits at least. This was east of Muleshoe, TX. I got away without losing a windshield, but ended up with 3 huge craters in my roof. It was unnerving to say the least being in such an artillery barrage.

June 19th was my first perfect bell-shaped wall cloud....at least the most perfect one I've seen in person. This was NW of Plainview, TX.

September 5 produced a very photogenic and beautiful little LP east of Wellington, TX. I got some great time lapse of this as well. Unfortunately, another "first" for me was hitting an 8-point buck near Wellington on the way back. I was lucky that 3 others had run out ahead of him causing me to slow down. Definitely an encounter I do not wish to repeat.

September also afforded me the opportunity to finally do something I've wanted to do all of my life...to chase a hurricane and if possible, stare it in the eye. I was fortunate to have done this with both Gustav and Ike. It was quite an experience to say the least. Props to David Drummond for partnering up for these events. Before, I always had job or other obligations preventing me from going. With more independence this year, I had the freedom to do so.

http://texastailchaser.com/chases/Hurricanes/Ike/album/

http://texastailchaser.com/chases/Hurricanes/Gustav/album/

So, overall, I was fortunate to have had a great year!

 

[Verne Carlson]

2008 for us was an exciting year but a tough one to get a decent tornado picture out of. It seemed like we drove like mad to keep up with fast moving, rain-wrapped tornadoes. We got lots of exciting video but only one chance to get the tripods out and enjoy an 'out of the car' tornado. The only day that wasn't a mad dash across the plains was:

May 22 - Collyer, KS we had two tornadoes on the ground. One to the east and one to the west. That was a moment to remember.

Edit:I have to say that driving away from the historic, northwest moving, 50 miles from the mountain Windsor, CO wedge was particulary painful. I could not have foreseen it but I did stare at the building towers north of Denver and thought "Gee it looks really volatile here". But a moderate risk in Kansas was our target.

 

[Brian Stertz]

Not a good year for me as it seemed like things got in the way with work and other situations....and made some bad chase decisions. Guess that is what makes chasing so darn challenging...lessons in life/reality. I did see tornadoes but overall it was sub-par year. I guess the chase up in SW Iowa on June 4th was the highlight seeing the fairly large stovepipe tornado move south of Corning. Up until that point, that chase was kind of frustrating...even though the storm did not move fast. It seemed like I would always catch it in the "off" cycle.

 

[Stuart Robinson]

13 Tornadoes, 2 Hurricanes, 2008 was a good chase year for me (personally)

 

[afischer]

I can echo Brian's experiences with regard to my own chase year. I was working during several events (chased less than in any year since 2001, the year I started chasing!)... and just plain had some tough chases in a season with a good number of challenging forecasts. The season started off fairly rotten, with bad forecasts on my part on April 24 (gave up on the northern KS storm at 10pm--a couple hours too early) and May 10 (targeted the warm front, gave up on the storms before they became surface-based near LIT, then tried to reach the insanely tornadic dryline supes but never recovered in time). Was on mid shifts for May 1, May 23, May 24, May 25... each event being just far enough away that it was unchaseable. That's life though.

May 22 was an enjoyable chase with a very potent warm sector supercell (and a few tornadoes) between Utica and Collier, though I wish I'd been patient and tracked earlier storms north of the warm front... unsurprising though, as when it comes to coin-flip decisions involving a warm front, I usually make the wrong choice. May 29 and June 7 ultimately made my year... the former of course being the tornadofest and structure-of-the-year between Tipton & Glen Elder, and the latter being a similarly beautiful/laminar-looking superell (with rope tornado) near Osborne.

 

[Mike Hollingshead]

When I think of my 2008 year, I visualize looking down a crapper inside a frequently used outhouse. I actually used one recently(Yellowstone) and thought for sure I could see a couple chases down in there. "Hey that pile looks like May 22nd." "Hey, there's May 29th over there in the corner."

My best stormy moment likely is the one that came when I least expected it, a crazy wall in the Badlands at sunrise.

http://www.extremeinstability.com/08-6-18fogstorm.htm

That and some tower lightning were about it for the really fun stuff.

http://www.extremeinstability.com/08-9-29.htm