2017 Chase Statistics

John Farley

John Farley

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Joined
Apr 1, 2004
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Pagosa Springs, CO
OK, everyone, 2017 is coming to an end, so it's time to post your 2017 chase statistics.

Here are mine - read 'em and weep, as it was definitely a sub-par year for me. Still some good days, though, and aside from some bonehead decisions on my part, a couple days could have been better than they ended up.

Severe thunderstorm chase days:11

Thundersnow chase days: 5 (2 successful)

Tornadoes seen: 2 definite (but not photogenic), three possible

Tornado days: 1 definite (May 18), 1 possible (June 25)

States chased in active chase mode: CO, NM, KS
States chased through: OK, TX

Biggest hail on ground: 2" (NM, May 22)
Biggest hail falling: 1" or slightly larger (NM, May 22 and June 25)

Most photogenic storm: Near Wagon Mound, NM, June 25.

Best thundersnow: Tie between May 10 and September 30, both around Wolf Creek Pass, CO.

Total chase mileage: 4191 (This is for the severe thunderstorm chase days. Another 100-200 in local lightning photography outings and local thundersnow chases.)

Mishaps: More of those than photogenic tornadoes this year.

On May 8, nearly got stuck in mud at one point and nearly went off road and narrowly missed a mailbox at another point. See lesson 1 below. On two days, battled gout, to the point of having to drive in a slipper because I could not wear a shoe. And on July 13, somehow managed to lose the cable on my lightning trigger. Fortunately not the trigger or the camera. I now have a spare cable.

Lessons learned:

1. If there is a paved road and one that you know will change to unpaved, take the paved one. Even if the unpaved one seems a better route to the storm you are after.

2. If you ignored #1 and took the unpaved one, keep your eyes on the road more than the storm.

3. Gout really hurts. Enough to ruin your chase.

4. Don't make impulsive decisions.

5. If choosing between several nearby storms, take the one with the best warm, moist inflow.

6. Even if they don't produce a tornado, New Mexico storms will usually give you something photogenic.

7. Pay attention to lessons learned in previous years. Several of the ones above are ones I seem to have to re-learn every year.
 
Severe thunderstorm chase days:16

Tornadoes seen: 9 confirmed, possibly 12 total.

Tornado days: 2/28, 5/20, 6/12, and 6/28.

States chased in active chase mode: IL, IN, IA, KS, CO, WY, NE, ND

Most photogenic storm: Near Greensburg, KS on 6/17/17

Total chase mileage: At least 2000 miles, will probably do the math on it later

Mishaps:
On 2/28 in central IL I initially set up at my target of Metamora, IL which was less than 10 miles from where the EF-3 Washburn tornado initially touched down. Prior to that storm initiating, I got baited 30 miles Northwest to some early initiating storms. The storm I got on produced an extremely short lived EF-0 tornado that was on the ground for less than a minute. Rather than dropping back south to the cell that would produce the Washburn tornado, I tried to catch up to the cell that would produce the EF-3 tornado that hit Ottawa, IL. I ended up missing the tornado itself, and arrived at Ottawa minutes after it had hit and dissipated.

Lessons learned:

1. Have confidence in your forecast and some patience.

2. If you're going to chase on a day like 2/28 with rocketship storm speeds, position yourself with some extra space ahead of the storm. You're not going to be able to catch back up, even with an amazing road grid like in central IL.

3. Dryline storms seem to always find a way to do interesting things with marginal conditions.

4. Don't completely discount marginal chase days, the best structure I had all year along with a photogenic tornado came from marginal setups.
 
Severe thunderstorm chase days: 10

Tornadoes seen: 1 definite (and photogenic) 3 possible

Tornado days: 1 definite (May 18th) 3 possible (January 22nd, May 19th, May 22nd)

States chased in active chase mode: AL, GA, KS, OK, TX, NM, TN
States chased through: KY, IL, MO

Biggest hail on ground: 2.2" (NM, May 22)
Biggest hail falling: 1" (OK, May 18; NM, May 22nd)

Most photogenic storm: NE of Roswell, NM on May 22nd

Most photogenic tornado: S of Waynoka, OK on May 18th

Total chase mileage: 10,066.6 (That may be a bad sign)

Mishaps: During long haul commute, chasing partner had legs up on the dash and shifted the car into neutral by mistake. On January 22nd, got baited down towards the FL coast and completely discounted the Albany, GA supercell which produced a long tracked wedge tornado.

Lessons Learned:

1) Don't chase a setup with rising heights and mediocre forcing. Just don't. This wasn't a cap bust this was a bust due to my pure stupidity.

2) Being from Alabama, LP supercells are a new thing for me to see and had some amazing structure. New Mexico in general is always a good chase option even on marginal days.

3) Wind farms are very creepy sights late at night

4) While New Mexico is beautiful, some of the locals out in the rural parts of eastern New Mexico are.. interesting to say the least.

5) Don't discount a storm just because it's a left split. The Chester-Waynoka supercell was a left split and had one of the most photogenic tornadoes of the year.

6) WATCH WHAT YOU EAT ON A CHASE. Don't run into a gas station or McDonalds and get crap. Buy healthy snacks at home and take them with you, and pack a lunch. Your digestive system and your watch will thank you later when you're the first on a storm without worrying about having diarrhea.
 
  • Great Plains chase trips: 2
  • Plains chase days: 5
  • Great Plains tornadoes: 6
  • Midwest tornadoes: 3 (February, July and November, all Illinois)
  • Total 2017 tornadoes: 9
  • States covered: 7
Highlights:

June 12: Tornadoes in 3 states, 2 close tornadoes, baseball-sized hail:
http://stormhighway.com/june122017.php

May 16: McLean tornado:
http://stormhighway.com/may162017.php

February 28: Nighttime Illinois EF4
http://stormhighway.com/feb282017.php

August 21: Eclipse
http://stormhighway.com/eclipse2017.php

Also embarked on my first "earthquake" trip, another of my big earth science interests:
http://stormhighway.com/san-andreas-fault/
 
Last edited:
Chase Days: 5
Miles: ~2,725
Tornado Days: 1
Tornadoes: 3
Largest Hail: 1.75"
States Chased In: OK, TX
Favorite Day: May 18 (West central OK)

Summary: Had a pretty rough year due to a mix of bad setups and just too much stuff going on outside of chasing. May 18th was really the only day where everything went pretty close to right.

Biggest Lesson Learned: Keep regional geography in mind and avoid the Cimarron River Valley like the plague. A lot of decent views of the Chester, OK and subsequent tornadoes got ruined by the high buttes in that area. That was almost directly a result of bad navigation on my part.
 
Severe thunderstorm chase days: 9

Tornadoes seen: 5- one photogenic

Tornado days: 2- June 9, June 12

States chased in active chase mode: WY, CO, TX, ND, OK, KS
States chased through: SD

Biggest hail on ground: 4" (WY, June 12) (Personal record, huge baseballs, many destroyed cars)
Biggest hail falling: 2" Wyoming June 12

Most photogenic storm: Lamar Colorado, April 17th (My photo with the supercell and wind-farm got published by NatGeo)

Total chase mileage: ~5,000 The North Dakota trip inflated these numbers massively

Mishaps: Making up my mind to chase the south tornado producing cell in OK, in good position and then bailing north into Kansas on May 18th.

Lessons learned:

1. Marginal Days in Colorado, Wyoming - Chase them!

2. Never stop chasing before sunset with supercells around. The light changes quickly, and gloomy looking landscapes can quickly become magical when the sun gets just above the horizon or underneath a supercell shelf cloud.

3. Make a plan and stick with it, be decisive!

4. Do what I say, not what I do. :)
 
Severe thunderstorm chase days: 11

Tornadoes seen: 4

Tornado days: 3

States chased in active chase mode: OK, TX

Biggest hail falling: Baseball - managed to escape without losing any glass

Most photogenic storm: I liked the aftermath of the high risk day in central Oklahoma. The mammatus clouds clouds were eerily colored.

Total chase mileage: 4,257 total miles
 
Severe thunderstorm chase days:4

Tornadoes seen: 3 (two solid stovepipes, and a quick spin up under a wall cloud)

Tornado days: 2, May 16th and 18th

States chased: OK, TX

Most photogenic storm: McLean, TX, May 16th

Mishaps: May 18th: Got caught between two supercells and my original escape route went from paved to dirt, which was impassable, so I had to turn around and drive through 70+ mph winds and no visibility.


Lessons learned:

Patience. Patience. Patience.

Last year I wanted to be there from the start, so I was under storms as they were developing. Unfortunately, they were developing in clusters and eventually merged around me. Eventually I was able to get out of the rain and wind, but was behind the storms now, and needed to drive a long ways to get back in front of them. I need to make sure to stay ahead of storms so that I can have more options and *let them come to me*
 
Severe thunderstorm chase days: 28

Tornadoes seen: 29

Tornado days: 13 (2/28, 3/6, 3/28, 4/5, 4/15, 4/30, 5/10, 5/17, 5/18, 5/23, 6/17, 6/28 (technically lol), 7/10)

States chased: IL, IN, IA, MO, KS, OK, TX, NM, CO, NE, WI, MI, KY, TN, FL, MS....
States Driven Thru: Too many to count

Largest Hail: 2.50" near Seymour, TX on 3/28/2017

Most photogenic storm: 7/10 near Dunlap, IL

Most photogenic tornado: N of Abilene, TX (near Avoca?) on 3/28/17

Total chase mileage: I have this calculated somewhere but no where close, all told including flying, probably over 15,000

Mishaps: Almost died in June during a chase trip from a life threatening medical condition, ended up staying in the hospital for over a week, missed 6/12....while being in the hospital in Colorado. Elevation and I do not get along anymore, so my days of chasing Colorado/Wyoming are probably limited (no big loss there lol).

The numbers seem impressive, but most of those tornadoes were bird-farts and only a few days I actually am proud of...those are below

February 28th: Probably the best chase of the year, I got a fairly up close look at the EF-3 wedge tornado that hit Ottawa and Naplate, IL. Ended up seeing 5 tornadoes that day along I-80 and then blasted south for the Washburn storm which we missed the last tornado on it by probably 10 minutes (doh).

March 28th: Impressive cyclic supercell in Central Texas produces a few photogenic tornadoes that don't really damage much of anything and a decent road network to get close to them. Probably my favorite chase since 2014 honestly.

April 15th: Saw an after-dark tornado up by Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Not fully condensed, but had a decent damage path. Structure was top notch though for Eastern Iowa.

April 30th: Cold core tornado setup in Northeast Missouri. Bagged 2 tornadoes with a low topped supercell near Monroe City, MO. Got an interview and photos published in some local papers after that, was pretty rad. My grandmother passed away a week later and I was happy that this was one of the last things she got to see me achieve, as silly as it sounds to most....she was proud of me and my chasing of storms

May 10th: Saw a stovepipe from like 8 miles away outside Salem, Iowa and then saw another spin-up further east in Illinois as the storm merged with the line. Structure was neat, tornadoes were kinda lackluster, still was local and on less than 1 tank of gas so no complaints.

May 17/18: A few tornadoes from Iowa to Kansas on these days. Saw a formidible stovepipe tornado near Riverside, Iowa on May 17th and then raced southwest and saw 3 more tornadoes the next day near Great Bend, KS which were completely un-impressive, but still can't win if you don't play.

June 28th: I have to explain myself on this one. We technically "bagged" an EF-0 tornado near Vinton, Iowa....but didn't know about it until afterwards as I thought it was just a funnel and they confirmed it to be a tornado. Our car broke down this day and we got robbed. It was an awful chase day that I wish never happened.

July 10th: Probably my biggest success of the year, 2% setup in Illinois along a warm front. Supercell went up about 20 miles east of home and sat stationary producing numerous tornadoes (I counted 5) northwest of Peoria. Not to mention top notch structure for anywhere, let alone Illinois. Was on about 3 different tornado warned storms this day and then back home in my own bed by 10pm. This is my favorite type of chase day.

Also "chased" two tropical cyclones as well. Directly chased Hurricane Irma in lower Florida and then the remnants of Harvey as well although didn't see much there. Irma was probably the best weather experience I've ever had in my entire life, topping Pilger and the Blizzard of 2011. To have 140 mph wind gusts for almost an hour straight, is just mind blowing.

Overall, a fairly decent year, if you look at the numbers, it looks incredible, but take away the bird fart tornadoes and its probably more like 8-12 decent tornadoes and a bunch of count padders, so it is what it is. I chase a lot during the year and I'm thinking this is probably going to be one of my last years of chasing that hard because its taking a toll on my health at age 23 and I'm trying to finish up my bachelors degree which I will be a senior soon.


Okay I tried embedding images here, but its too late at night and my brain hurts so most of my recent work is online at Flickr on this page......https://www.flickr.com/photos/159302084@N02/page1 Check it out.
 
Chases: 6
Tornadoes: 2
Tornado days: 2
Miles chased: 2120
States chased: OK, TX
Best day: May 16

Season firsts:
-I didn't chase at all in April.
-I got my car all bashed up by baseball sized hail on March 26th

2017 was largely forgettable. Moving on to 2018 hopefully...

NEXT!
 
Chase days: 23, including positioning days

Tornado days: Four

Tornadoes: Six

Miles: 13,548

States: CO, NM, TX, OK, KS, WY, NE, SD, ND, WI, and drove through MN and a corner of IA

Largest hail: 2.5", near Carrington, ND, June 9

Largest tornado: Goshen Co, WY/Sioux Co, NE EF2, June 12

Favorite chase: Oct 1 in nw KS. Never really had a day where everything went right, seemed like I screwed at least one thing up every time. And I almost dumbarsed myself out of position on Oct 1 but was able to catch up in time to see the brief tornadoes it produced.

The storm that almost was: Apr 14, got a late start and went due east instead of south (oops.) Big tower forms in Morton Co, KS and appears to be on its way to being the only game for over one hundred miles and I'm right there... but the cap won and the storm fell apart.

Local oddity: While storms gathered around me near CO-86 in Elbert County on May 8, I see a tornado warning issued for the area near the southern Wet Mountains southwest of Pueblo, within half an hour of home. (WTF!!?) The NWS later confirmed that a tornado did touch down at about 11,100' elevation northwest of Greenhorn Mountain after US Forest Service employees, accessing the area for the first time following the spring snow melt, discovered the swath of downed trees.
 
One tornado on March 26, not fully condensed nor photogenic. Never thought I'd have a year this bad unless I moved far away from the Alley and scaled back a ton on chasing. It was IMO simply a bad year for the Plains as a whole, and on top of that, I messed up a couple days and then had to sit out/leave late on several others. Frankly, the only day of the entire spring I missed that really bothers me was June 12 in CO/WY, and that kind of multi-day haul was never a consideration since I'd just started a new job.

The most striking feature of 2017 for me was its near-total failure to produce good events, despite ample rainfall and ET over the central and southern Plains. It's sad when moisture is in ample supply for the heart of the season, leading to numerous plausibly good days, but they mostly find other failure modes.
 
Chase Days: 9

Miles Traveled: 4,261

Tornadoes Seen: 2

Tornado Days: 2 (2/28 and 5/16)

States Chased In: IN, IL, KS, OK, and TX

Most Photogenic Storm: The supercell that produced the Elk City, OK tornado on 5/16 prior to it crossing into OK from TX.

Fun Facts/Lessons Learned:

-I've had 2 clear-sky busts: One on April 9, 2012...and the other this year on April 9 (Note to self: don't chase on April 9 anymore)

-I used to scoff at those who only chased or referred to the chase season as being roughly late April - early June. Since I started chasing, work and school dictated when I could and couldn't chase, so when I got the chance to chase, I jumped on it, regardless of season and location. I had more freedom this year to go after any setup I wanted to, but still had the mentality that I had to chase everything I could because I may not be able to go after the next system. This caused me to bust to some degree a lot more than I should have. If a setup is close enough and good enough, I'll still chase regardless of time of year, but I now completely understand that the best bang for your buck is usually the Plains in May.

-I've been driving for 10 years now and chasing for 6, but had yet to get hail dings and dents on a vehicle...until chasing on 11/5. The hail was only roughly quarter-sized, but I was trying to drive away from most likely bigger stones. I now have some very minor dings on the hood of my car, which is only about a year old, but that's how chasing goes. It definitely could have been worse.

-While it wasn't a chase, my favorite day photographically speaking was the solar eclipse on August 21. I had a perfect location for viewing and clouds did not interfere. It was unreal.
 
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