2010 Chase Stats

[Skip Talbot]

2010 chase stats. Post yours here or disregard this thread if you hate stats! Feel free to add or remove variables when posting your own stats. Amend your stats after the fall season. Post your stats even if you didn't catch a tornado this year. Its not a competition, its just for fun!

My 2010 Chase Stats
Chases: 32
Miles: 20,436
Hours: 435.5
Tornado Days: 5 on 4/22(5), 5/22(6), 6/13(1), 6/17(10) 7/14(2)
Tornadoes: 24
Most Destructive Tornado: EF4 on 5/22 and 6/17
Largest Hail: 1 inch (!) on 6/20 and 6/21
Worst Busts: 6/5, 5/10, 6/1
Days I Wished I Chased: 5/31, 6/16, 5/24, 5/18, 8/7
Windshields Cracked: 1 (by rock) on 6/1
Times Stuck: 1 on 6/11
Speeding Tickets: 1 on 6/9
Firsts:

First TX, OK, and SD tornadoes
First July tornadoes
First time in SD, WY, NM, and ND
First tornado rated higher than F2
First Allsup's Burrito
​

States Chased (Or Chased Through): IL/WI/MO/IA/MN/OK/KS/NE/SD/CO/WY/TX/NM/ND/IN
Longest Chase: 4/21 at 1,253 miles
Shortest Chase: 6/10 at 227 miles
Furthest Intercept From Home: 6/14 Carlsbad, NM at 1,115 miles
Closest Intercept From Home: 10/26 Waterman, IL at 51 miles
Miles Chased East Of Home: 132
Subway Italian BMT's In Feet: at least 12
Nights spent In Van: 18

 

[Ben Holcomb]

While I'm not convinced the Midwest season is over (see GFS after 120 hours...) I will post my stats so far

Storm Chasing Days: 26
Tornadoes: 19
Photogenic Tornadoes: 12
Busts: 9
Largest Hail Encountered: 2"
Highest Wind Gust: 80mph
Miles Driven: 22,256
Windshields Replaced: 0
Spotter Network Reports: 12
Best Chase Day: May 22nd
Worst Busts: 6/17, 6/5, 5/19, 4/22
Days I Wished I Chased: 5/31
Speeding Tickets: 1 for 79 in 55 on 4/24
States: IL, IA, MO, TX, LA, MS, AL, NE, KS, AR, TN, OH, OK, SD, WY, IN, MN, MI
# of times eating Chick-fil-a in Joplin, MO: 1

 

[Dean Baron]

I've had a fun season, well ahead of where I've been in any of my previous 4 seasons. I made (and still am making) chasing a top priority this season because it won't be next season or probably any season in the near future although I don't have the resources to do it nearly as often as many on here.
My 2010 Chase Stats
Chases: 10
Miles: ~9000
Hours: I dont even want to know
Tornado Days: 2, 5/23 (complete luck), 6/17
Tornadoes: 2
Most Destructive Tornado: Beginning of the deadly EF4 that hit Almora, MN
Largest Hail: Not sure, had some loud thumps on my car. Seen some stones about 2" on the ground but wasn't actually there when it fell
(adding this one) Strongest Winds: Measured 87mph 5/24 in SD
Worst Busts: 4/5, 6/26, 6/16
Days I Wished I Chased: Wow, umm, a lot: 5/10, 5/22, 5/25, 6/11, so many more I can't even think of right now
Windshields Cracked: None so far!
Times Stuck: Not gonna jinx myself
Speeding Tickets: 1 on 4/5
Firsts:
First tornado I actually got footage of, but still wish I would've gotten more
First time chasing in Colorado
First time doing multiple back to back chases
First time chasing in April
First time chasing dryline (4/29, 5/23, 6/17)
States Chased (Or Chased Through): MN/IA/SD/ND/MO/KS/CO/NE
Longest Chase: 6/10 at somewhere right around 1700 miles
Shortest Chase: lol, probably~400 miles
Miles Chased East Of Home: 0
Subway Italian BMT's In Feet: lol, I like this one. Probably about 6 or 7
Bottles of Mountain Dew: 20-25, quite possibly more
Nights spent In my (tiny) Ford Focus: lets see, probably about 10
Flash Flooding problems encountered: Too many
Pounds of fat gained: I'd say 5-10lbs
# of times driving thru Des Moines going to/coming back from a chase: 6
# of minutes suffering thru having the heat on in my car because it overheats when idling while it's already 90 degrees out with a 70 degree dewpoint: FML

 

[Isaac Pato]

Ok, here are my stats as best I remember them:

Chases: 10+
Miles Traveled: >7000
States Chased: OK/KS/TX/AR/NE/MO/NM/MA
Longest Chase: 19.5 hrs: Norman, OK to SE NE

Tornadoes: At least 13 confirmed on vid/pics
Photogenic 'Naders: 5
Tornado Days: 5 on 3/8, 4/22, 5/10, 5/18, 5/19, (4/30 rain-wrapped, but within a mile in MO)
Closest Tornado: within 1/4th of a mile on 5/19
Longest Tornado: over 30 minutes on 3/8 (Hammon, OK)
Tornadoes Per State: TX: 7, OK: 6, (MO: 1)

Largest Hail: 2.75" on 5/18 near Dumas, TX

Worst Bust: 4/5 blue sky in Wichita
Strangest Chase: 3/10 near hwy 99 in SE KS. Hail-cooled air reached mid-30s in valleys, strange MCV-like cluster.
Best Chase Day: 3/8 (for tornado), 5/18 (for structure)
Speeding Tickets: 0!

 

[Nick Nolte]

Well, this was my first season venturing beyond the MI/IN/OH area and I enjoyed it very much and look forward to 2011.

Chases: 14
Miles: 12,867
Hours: uh *sweeps under rug*
Tornado Days: 4 on 5/10, 5/22, 5/24 and 6/5
Tornadoes: 9
Highest Rated: EF-4 on 5/22 Bowdle, SD
Largest Hail: 1.75" on 6/14 in Ector Co, TX that christened my car
Worst Busts: 5/19
Days I wish I chased: 5/31, 6/17
Firsts:

• First tornado: Wakita 5/10
• First hail dent: 5/14 Texas, managed to avoid much hail in Michigan
• First time taking a vacation specifically for chasing
• First time chasing outside of MI/IN/OH
• First time experiencing RFD

States Chased: MI/IN/OH/IL/IA/SD/NE/WY/CO/KS/OK/TX/NM
Longest Chase: 6/5 1,027 miles
Shortest Chase: 5/22 320 miles
Furthest Intercept from Home: 5/10 978 miles
Closest Intercept from Home: 6/5 372 miles
Least Favorite Day: 5/19 hands down
New Favorite State: South Dakota

 

[James Gustina]

Here I go:
Chases:8-9
Miles:452
Tornadoes:0
Largest Hail:0.25 in.
Strongest Winds:30-40(estimate)
Busts:5
Worst Bust:6/15
Best Chase Day:6/26-No tornadoes, no big storm, just a little afternoon popper.
Days I Wished I Chased:5/7 6/27 6/5
Speeding Tickets: 0
Firsts:
First waffle house that had a pickup truck with a gun rack on it in the parking lot
First shelf cloud longer than 10 miles
First time out of state on a severe thunderstorm
States Chased Through: Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky.
Longest Chase: 6/26, 240 miles total
Shortest Chase: 4/12 5 miles
Red's Cap Worn:8 times
Hours Spent in Fetal Position Over Bust: 15

Rating of Midwest Season So Far:6/10

 

[Tony Laubach]

Storm Chasing Days: 43 (28 "tornado chases", 15 "spotter" chases)
Tornadoes: 40
Tornado Days: 14; 4/22 (3), 4/29 (1), 5/10 (4), 5/12 (1), 5/14 (3), 5/18 (3), 5/19 (1), 5/22 (7), 5/24 (9 - all after Faith), 6/11 (3), 6/12 (1), 6/13 (2), 6/17 (1), 6/21 (1)
Busts: 9
Largest Hail Encountered: 4.25" (3 times 4"+, 4 more with 3"+)
Highest Measured Wind Gust: 92 knots
Miles Driven: 27,805
Windshields Replaced: 0* (busted mesonet windshield not of my doing)
Best Chase Day: 5/22 (strongest tornado I have ever seen) & 5/24 (all my tornadoes that day no one else saw, a rare feat now-a-days)
Days I Wished I Chased: 3/8, 5/31
Days I Chased And Want A Redo: 6/10, 6/16, 6/17, 6/20
States: 15 (CO, WY, MT, NM, TX, OK, KS, NE, SD, ND, MN, IA, IL, AR, MS)
New States Added To My Tornado-Seen List: ND, MN

Noteworthy..

• I have had more giant hail days where I have seen 3" or bigger hail this year (7) than I have my entire career up til this year.
• May 24 tornadoes were all post-Faith that only me, the TWISTEX crew, and one vehicle of other chasers saw; that's tough to do these days.
• May 22, Bowdle was the strongest tornado I have seen to date.
• I am on pace to beat my single-season career mileage record (2007 - 33,934; in 2007 by this time, I had 25,273 miles.)
• 40 tornadoes is a new single season record for me.
• 14 tornado days is a new single season record for me.
• I have had 7 chases of 1,000 miles or more this year.
• For my record-keeping career, I am over 175K miles since 2002.

 

[Jason Boggs]

CHASES--20+
MILES--guessing about 7-8,000
TORNADO DAYS--3
NUMBER OF TORNADOES SEEN--9
LARGEST HAIL--golfball
HIGHEST WIND SPEED--80-90 (Campo tornado RFD)
BROKEN WINDSHIELDS--0
BEST CHASE DAY--5-31-10
SPEEDING TICKETS--0
LONGEST CHASE--580 miles round trip
SHORTEST CHASE--85 miles round trip
# OF VITAMIN WATER AND MTN. DEWS CONSUMED--more than enough!
5 HOUR ENERGY DRINKS CONSUMED--between 8-10
BRAIN FART MOMENT--forgot my still camera on March 8th (Hammon tornado)
PEOPLE I MET--
Lou Ruh
Ryan McGinnis
Katelyn Pfeister
Dr. Greg Forbes
Mike Bettes
Doren Berge
Jason Persoff
Jeff Smith
Lanny Dean
Sean Casey

FIRSTS--first tornado ever seen in Colorado.
never chase west of Lamar, CO until this year. It's great chase territory.
Never chased near Lawton, OK until this year. Also good chase territory.
first season I never chased in New Mexico.
4-22-10 was the first time I ever saw the Dominator.
No Allsup's burritos eaten on a chase. I had a chase partner, and I would have been extremely embarrased with the outcome!
first season I ever took a chase partner that had never chased before. Her second day was 4-22-10. She saw 4 tornadoes.

SCALE OF 1-10 (SATISFIED WITH SEASON)--9

 

[Scott Hammel]

Storm Chasing Days: 20
Tornadoes: 18
Tornado Days: 4/22 (4), 5/25 (5), 5/31 (4), 6/11 (1), 8/16 (4)
Busts: 4
Largest Hail Encountered: 2.5"
Miles Driven: 12,288
Windshields Replaced: 0
Best Chase Day: Either 5/31 in Campo, CO or 4/22 in Las Animas, CO. Tough call because Campo was more photogenic, but the Las Animas tornadoes only had a few other chasers that saw them. I'll call it a draw.
Days I Wished I Chased: 5/22
Vortex 2 Encounters: 8
TIV Encounters: 2
Timmermobile Encounters: 1
Gas Station Cups of Coffee Bought: 3,123,657
City Passed Through The Most: Lakin, KS at least 6 times
Still Favorite Gas Station: The Oasis in Colby, KS
States: CO, KS, NE, TX, OK.

 

[Brett Roberts]

(Various chases and portions of chases missing)

Chases: 23
Miles: ~12,200
Tornado Days: 7 (4/22, 5/12, 5/18, 5/19, 5/22, 6/10, 6/11)
Tornadoes: 16
Most Destructive Tornado: EF4 on 5/22
Largest Hail: Grapefruit (4/22)
Worst Busts: 5/10
Days I Wished I Chased: 5/31... others, but they don't really compare
Windshields Cracked: 1 (4/22)
Times Stuck: 0
Speeding Tickets: 0
Firsts:
High risk tornado (5/19)
Chase in SD (5/22)
Tornado in SD (5/22)
Collision with deer/accident while chasing (5/22)
Chase in WY (6/9)
Tornado in CO (6/10)
States Chased (Or Chased Through): TX, OK, KS, NE, SD, CO, WY
Longest Chase: 5/22 (2300 mi. counting failed chase attempts on the way to and from SD)
Shortest Chase: 5/16 (140 mi.)
Furthest Intercept From Home: Bowdle, SD (715 mi. straight-line)
Closest Intercept From Home: Hennessey, OK (70 mi. straight-line)
Miles Chased East Of Home: almost none outside of 5/10... quite possibly the best part of the year

 

[Ric Burney]

Chases: 18 (22 including 4 local)
Mileage: 8162 (give or take a couple)
States : TX / OK
Tornadoes: (7) ; 4/22 (4); 5/19(1); 5/20 (1); 6/12(1)
Largest Hail est. 2.5" north of Lake McClellan,TX 4/22.. nice new dent
Worst Bust: 3/10 - didn't listen to my gut instinct
Best Chase: 4/22 - listened to my gut instinct
Longest Chase: 6/12 1154 mi.
Shortest Chase: 5/20 126 mi.
Windshields: 0
Tickets: 0
TIV II : 2
Dominator : 1
Wildlife Killed: 1 Bat, 1 Rabbit, est. >100 Frogs, all on 04/21
Wildlife attempt. suicide by vehicle:
countless deer and loose cattle on FM roads at night resulting in emergency evasive action followed by seat cushion removal procedure
Firsts:
Took new chaser on first ever chase (Karla Dorman 3/24)
First time running totally digital (tape camera died morning of 4/22)
New tradition begun: DQ large chocolate malt = great chase

 

[Jeremy Jones]

Storm Chasing Days: 5
Tornadoes: 2 (5/19) 1 spin-up (5/16)
Busts: 2
Largest Hail Encountered: 3-4" Billings, Oklahoma (5/10)
Miles Driven: Roughly: Roughly 2,000 or so.
Windshields Replaced:0
Best Chase Day: 5/19 didn't get stuck with the massive convergence and V2!
Vortex 2 Encounters: 2
TIV Encounters: 2
Tickets:0
States:2

Firsts: 5/19 my first High Risk, as well as my first Solo-tornado Intercepts, as well as my first time being within a 1/2 mile to 1 mile of a strong tornado!

 

[Jane Herbert]

Our 2010 Chase Stats (Clyve Herbert & Jane ONeill)
Days in USA: 32 on the ground( Denver....back to...Denver)
Miles: 16,548
States Chased (Or Chased Through): NM, TX, OK, MO, AR, KS, NE, SD, IL, IA, CO
Storm Chases: 20
Snow Chases: 3
Tornado Days: at least 9
Tornadoes: 12 and still counting
Most Destructive Tornado:5/10 Oklahoma: Cherokee - N of Ponca City
Largest Hail: 3.5"
Number of hail dents: at least 30
Worst Busts: 5/13
Days we wished we chased: none that we didn't
Windshields Cracked: 0
Times Stuck: 0
Speeding Tickets: 0
Flat tyres: 1
Firsts: driving for 6 hours through driving snow and freezing the transmission in Drive
Video tapes used: 15
Photos taken: >20,000
Distractions: collecting 1 antique barometer (Montana), 1 guitar (Oklahoma), 1 bass guitar (Illinois), roadside geology books

 

[Michael O'Keeffe]

Days Chased: 10
States Chased: KS, OK, MO, CO, NE, IA, SD
Tornado Days: 2 (April 22, May 10)
Tornadoes: 10 (5-April 22, 5-May 10)
Tornadoes Seen: 5-KS, 5-OK
Bust: 3 (4/5, 5/12, 6/1)
Largest Hail: 2"
Highest Wind: 80+ MPH
Windshields Replaced: 0
Best Chase Day: April 22 - Numerous large tornadoes in W Kansas.

2010 was not so good for us despite starting off really good. The start of the season was a great one with only one true bust due to the fact nothing developed on April 5. Then we nabbed some tornadoes on April 22 in W Kansas and May 10 in N Oklahoma. However things went downhill fast as a few personal things came up and we were done for the season missing big time events left and right. I then left for Maine on June 9 and was gone until June 22 missing the bulk of the season but likely wouldn't have been able to chase anyway so I don't regret going. We finally got one last shot at a tornado or at least a nice pretty storm on June 26 in SD but not much came of that day. I guess I shouldn't complain since we did get a few good tornadoes.

Chase Season Rating: 7/10

 

[Tyler Burg]

Chases: 14 (4/5, 4/6, 4/23, 4/29, 5/10, 5/18, 5/19, 6/1, 6/3, 6/10, 6/17, 6/18, 6/20, 6/22)
States: NE, IA, KS, OK, CO, MN, MO, SD
Miles: >8000
Tornadoes: 11
Tornado days: 5
Busts: 2 (4/5, 6/22)
Days I wish I chased: 4/22, 5/22, 5/24, 5/31, 6/16
Highest wind: ~ 70mph (6/20 KS)
Largest Hail: 1.5" (5/18 KS)
Longest Chase: 6/10 Last Chance, CO (21 hrs)
Marathon Chases: 4 (5/10, 5/18, 5/19, 6/10)
Days I wish I could do different: 6/17
Nights spent in car: 1
Times almost struck by lightning: 3