2008 Signature Tornado

[Jay McCoy]

Maybe its just me but every year there is at least 1 tornado episode that produces the "signature tornado" for the year. A tornado that when anybody sees they instantly know where and when it happened like the Mulvane tornado or last year it was the 3-28-07 Bryce, Tx. tornado. Well so far this year I dont recall a tornado that really stands out. There hasnt been that picture perfect frame shot that alot of chasers caught or became infamous. maybe its due to most of the tornados occuring in HP conditions, after dark, or in bad chase country. Has anybody else noticed this this year??

 

[Dennis Sherrod]

The closest I have seen to it this year Jay looks to be the "Quniter" tornado from May 23rd. It seems to be the one so many are talking about and there are lots of photos of it as it was on the southside of I-70, although most are bad contrast, mine included.

 

[John Wetter]

Maybe some (one) of the Quinter, KS shots? Or, the slender tube on the 22nd... Seems many of the 'signature' shots would have been from May 22-23 days, but I don't know what would distinguish them a lot from others. Had the Parkersburg, IA storm been more photogenic, it would probably be the signature for the year, as about any EF-5 probably should be.

 

[Jay McCoy]

Thats what I mean. The Quinter tornado is generic in many ways. yes it was shot by a number of people from different angles but 5 years from now will you see a pciture and say "that was may 23rd in Quniter, Ks."?? It doesnt stand out in anybodys mind. Maybe cause everybodys shot is different. I am looking for the 1 shot that everybody can identify with and say oh ya I remember that. I havent seen it for this year.

 

[Jim Saueressig]

I was watching this one on someones live cam as well as seeing a few different pics of it. This is one that sticks in my head like some of the past one of a kinds.

From Tony's post in 2008 tornadoes (easiest to find)

 

[Shane Adams]

I think it depends on the chaser. For example, IMO, the signature tornado of 2007 was Greensburg, hands down. Other chasers would disagree. Chasing has changed so much in the last few years, now every storm is covered by chasers. Everyone is getting right next to tornadoes, and every chase day, dozens return home with shots that, even as recent as 4-5 years ago, would've been considered amazing and world-class. Now they're just typical. How can you pick a signature tornado from dozens that were shot from within a half mile away, by hundreds of chasers? What makes one tornado stand out now, from a photogenic/chased point-of-view? IMO these days, you have to look at the event itself, the magnitude, the newsworthy aspect, and the historic significance.

Every chase day produces a Mulvane now, because anyone with the money can be in the tornadoes with all the technology. The shelf life of amazing tornado video has shrunk to about 2 hours, which is about the average time from the time the tornado is shot until it's being aired on networks all over the country. By the time a clip first hits youtube, it's old news. At least for those who are into the scoop business. The art of the tornado video has long since been lost to the urgency of being first. Chasers are now abandoning dream chase days to get video uploaded before the next guy,giving up half or more of the event in the process. To each their own.

But to digress (?), it's virtually impossible to isolate one tornado these days that stands above all others. Look at 2008. You could argue any number of tornadoes from May 22-24, May 29, June 4, the list goes on and on. Does anyone else notice how it's a bigger deal these days when a chasers posts in a thread that he/she didn't see a tornado? What chaser, with techno gear and a mod risk day that produces tornadoes, busts? Everyone's on everything these days. It's become more difficult to bust than it is to succeed, if you have all the available options. And thus, it's become far more difficult to come away from any season with one single tornado that stands out among the rest.

Just my opinion.

But the signature tornado of 2008? No clue, could be one of several.

 

[Jay McCoy]

Shane I agree the greensburg event was the tornado of the year. The only reason I didnt mention it was it was dark and most of the photos are siloettes even though they are dramatic. I was thinking more like one you could recognize by the tornado, landscape, etc.. without any captions. You would just know the date and place 5-10 years from now.

I also understand what you mean about it becoming harder to have 1 single tornado since we now catch so many but there is usually 1 each year that really sticks out in everybodys mind from ewither the photo quality or the number of chasers who caught it. Not his year though.

 

[Darrin Rasberry]

I don't think there's one that would make a poster, if that's what you mean. The two best ones I've seen have been the Quinter tornadoes and the Chicago tornado.

I'm partial to Wakeeney on May 22nd, too - not just because it was my first real grab of my career, but because everyone chasing that day who hadn't thrown in the towel early either got hit by it or by the torrential RFDs. It was gorgeous, but only lasted ten seconds before it got wrapped up in rain. If you want a signature tornado that captures the spirit of 2008 in a nutshell for chasing, that one's it IMO.

There's also Jim Reed's landspout that he basically left his car to go tackle. What a year when a landspout is the most picturesque.

There's also Parkersburg and Picher, but the latter is remembered by most (including us) as being rain-wrapped by the time we arrived from the huge wall cloud 20 miles north of it that never produced, and the former is remembered by most (including us) as an uncatchable storm. It's been a long time since I've been kicked in the gut with as much reality and sadness as I was on those two days.

Chicago, Oklahoma City, Memphis, Atlanta, Springfield, and Omaha are off the top of my head as the major metro areas that got hit this year. Despite Iowa's Parkersburg and Little Sioux storms, Arkansas was the hardest hit state. All of these major events went alongside Jay's description, except maybe the Chicago area wedge. There were three nice, comfortable "armchair chases" which featured slow-moving, long-lived tornado machines (two in Oklahoma and one in Iowa) but one was way HP and one was at night, and the other caught many of us with our pants down in Nebraska on May 24.

Quinter would be the closest call for this year, I guess, but I wouldn't buy the poster.

 

[Darrin Rasberry]

Every chase day produces a Mulvane now, because anyone with the money can be in the tornadoes with all the technology.

I think you may have unintentionally (or maybe not ... ) typed out the rub here. Since so many have been difficult to catch, in many cases that we've bailed the braver have gone on to score ... half the time we regret not getting the cajones, but then the other half of the time someone invariably either reports or gets called out as being hit by the storm. IMO, gear has added a certain tinge of bravery that has led to disaster more often than not. No doubt some are directly responsible for getting too close, but in many instances that I recall, it was an over-reliance on radar data and subsequent poor positioning in low-visibility storms that got most people. One of my biggest lessons I've learned through hard knocks myself this year: having radar is good to help you pick out a storm, but when you get there it's time to shut it off, because if you keep watching it like a pot trying to boil it WILL go out on you someday, perhaps in the middle of Hill Country in a TOR-warned storm at night on March 17th, say. I won't ever do that again. I canceled my tethering and since then I've just been looking at a few Weathertap grabs on my cell to check out initiation that's not in my view. My only regret is that I can't get the Mesoanalysis page while I'm sitting and waiting for storms. If I could pick one of the two to carry with me, it would be the Mesoanalysis page above even radar.

The biggest help to me has been the NOAA weather radio. When I got it in early May, the uncertainty with this year's messes went down a bit, and I became a braver chaser on my own with it.

The shelf life of amazing tornado video has shrunk to about 2 hours, which is about the average time from the time the tornado is shot until it's being aired on networks all over the country.

Yup. I think, though, that the prevalence of tornado videos isn't as much of a wrecker; the average public will just go to Youtube, type "TORNADO" in the search box, and watch any clip from any old year. And based on the 2008 tornado "quality," the only way I'd keep watching a video from this year if I were still "Joe Public" is if it hit in or near my hometown. My brother, a weather enthusiast, will probably just watch the Discovery shows this year instead of watching any Youtube video at all, since he likes to see "how things work behind the scenes" (i.e. he loves the addition of the reality show drama).

Does anyone else notice how it's a bigger deal these days when a chasers posts in a thread that he/she didn't see a tornado? What chaser, with techno gear and a mod risk day that produces tornadoes, busts?

I've failed hard and manned up to it on tornado days I've wiffed (May 23rd for example). Maybe it was standard once to report your busts as well as your wins, but I think (or like to think) that people just kinda forget to report when they bust out nowadays. Personally, I like to have the writeups at my fingertips so I can review them later and recall tactics we used to save our butts bailing on storms that ended up directly hitting people (e.g. May 23rd again), or so I can integrate my forecasting mistakes and correct them later (e.g. the long-track Iowa supercell, which I bypassed because I went out unaware of the slow storm motions that day).

I've been told by quite a few chasers that this year was a good initiation year, even though it wasn't a picturesque tornado year. My chasing partner said that he wished his first year was like this, since even he's learned more this year than any other year of the decade he's chased.

 

[Bob Schafer]

Though I had some pretty good success this year, the one tornado that stands out in my mind is the one I missed 5 miles from my house:

I was along I-135 chasing the high risk that day, and witnessed nothing as photogenic as the "Granada Tornado'. Not that day nor any other day in 2008, LOL! So I vote for the notion that "It depends on the chaser". Here's the whole story about the Granada tornado:

http://www.lamarledger.com/news/2008/jun/05/tornado-touches-down-outside-granada/

P.S. From what I hear, the damn thing was on the ground for nearly a half hour.

 

[Dustin Wilcox]

And based on the 2008 tornado "quality," the only way I'd keep watching a video from this year if I were still "Joe Public" is if it hit in or near my hometown.

It continues to amaze me the number of people who keep bashing 2008, based on my experiences and observations I would be more than happy if you were to tell me 2009 would be a carbon copy. I personally have seen some pretty incredible tornadoes and storms, and I have seen some pretty impressive video of tornadoes captured by other chasers. I would even go as far as to say that its pretty bogus to say that there weren't any extremely photogenic tornadoes this year. I saw some scenes that would have produced some pretty amazing stills, I was just solo most of the time and due to limited time spent my effort focusing on video.

As for the idea of a yearly "signature tornado" IMO its going to vary from chaser to chaser, for example you mention just last years 3-28-07 Bryce, Tx. tornado, I wouldn't be able to tell you where and when that tornado occurred if you provided me a picture, though if you showed me a picture of the Bird City Tornado I could pin its location on a map. IMO excluding the obvious universally recognized "signature tornadoes" EF-5's and a rare high based white tornado with a rainbow stretching through it, each chasers idea of the years "signature tornado" is going to be different.

 

[Mike Hollingshead]

Every chase day produces a Mulvane now, because anyone with the money can be in the tornadoes with all the technology.

Does anyone else notice how it's a bigger deal these days when a chasers posts in a thread that he/she didn't see a tornado? What chaser, with techno gear and a mod risk day that produces tornadoes, busts? Everyone's on everything these days. It's become more difficult to bust than it is to succeed, if you have all the available options.

I guess I feel like a tard now! Oh crap, I've felt like a tard for a while now, nevermind. I've had "the money" to chase, "the super duper techno saver stuff"(a whopping laptop and cell phone) and seem to miss the "daily Mulvane's" quite well. So I will raise my hand high on the question of "What chaser, with techno gear and a mod risk day that produces tornadoes, busts?". Me me me. Maybe I need two laptops and two cell phone connections to bag with all the others who are bagging. Perhaps a brain transplant would be more effective.

 

[Jason Boggs]

I guess I feel like a tard now! Oh crap, I've felt like a tard for a while now, nevermind. I've had "the money" to chase, "the super duper techno saver stuff"(a whopping laptop and cell phone) and seem to miss the "daily Mulvane's" quite well. So I will raise my hand high on the question of "What chaser, with techno gear and a mod risk day that produces tornadoes, busts?". Me me me. Maybe I need two laptops and two cell phone connections to bag with all the others who are bagging. Perhaps a brain transplant would be more effective.

Mike, don't feel so bad dude. I only got a brief tornado this year with all the bells and whistles I have acquired over the years. Maybe we can go in and get the transplant at the same time, then team up and kick everyone's butt!

 

[Michael O'Keeffe]

Does anyone else notice how it's a bigger deal these days when a chasers posts in a thread that he/she didn't see a tornado? What chaser, with techno gear and a mod risk day that produces tornadoes, busts? Everyone's on everything these days. It's become more difficult to bust than it is to succeed, if you have all the available options. And thus, it's become far more difficult to come away from any season with one single tornado that stands out among the rest.

This is how I see it. You can have ALL of the best radars, nowcasters, and internet, but if don't have the "instinct" then sure you may see some tornadoes, but if you want to see tornadoes at the right place or right time...you must have the instinct or experience to find the storms and tornadoes.

An example if he doesn't mind me using him is Simon Brewer. I mean he doesn't even chase with a laptop for god's sake, but he sees tornadoes on almost every chase he goes on! I really envy his skills as a forecaster and chaser.

I may be wrong, but I have never really been a huge fan of having tons of gizmos and gadgets. Just give me a map, a wx radio, and a camera and I'll be content. I guess it's all opinion.

 

[Mike Hollingshead]

Mike, don't feel so bad dude. I only got a brief tornado this year with all the bells and whistles I have acquired over the years. Maybe we can go in and get the transplant at the same time, then team up and kick everyone's butt!

LOL this could be another thread. "Whose brain would you transplant yours with?"