I know it's hard to objectively assess a chase season (that's not technically over yet) since we all have different perspectives, days/areas we can chase, personal preferences, etc., but consider the following about 2018.
The early season, particularly April as a whole, since it's not uncommon for quiet months of March, was a complete no show. A small handful (if you can even call it that) of days accounted for most of the tornadoes, with the majority of those over Dixie Alley.
April finished with, by far, the least severe weather event days on record since 2000 with only five. The previous low was 10 in 2013. Many chasers did not venture out at all and I only chased once in April on a lackluster day on the 30th.
http://www.spc.noaa.gov/exper/archive/events/event-days-online.php
May was slow, but not the absolute worst in comparison to other years in the past decade. However, just three days come to mind that accounted for the majority of the tornadoes or otherwise noteworthy chase days: 5/1 (Culver), 5/27 (Wyoming) and 5/28 (Colorado landspouts).
Many saw tornadoes, but aside from 5/28, those events were very localized and fairly short-lived. As a whole, this entire year has lacked quality (subjective take) and quantity (observed fact).
Using Jim Tang's clustering technique, we are probably experiencing one of the worst, if not the worst, years for "quality" tornado days in most of our chase careers. We haven't had a legitimate non-localized, supercell tornado outbreak in the Plains this year. Speaking of supercells, even those have been relatively hard to come by, generally isolated and fairly short-lived.
http://www.ustornadoes.com/2018/03/30/best-time-year-schedule-storm-chasing-vacation/
If this seems like opinion, note that we've had a record low number of intense (EF-3 or stronger) tornadoes year-to-date (YTD).
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...s-year-thats-a-record/?utm_term=.7807748b91e4
We're currently in the midst of the least tornadoes YTD since 2005. Unless tornado counts miraculously ramp up over the next 1-2 weeks, we'll stay below the pace of 2013 and fall below 2005.
On a personal note, I have still not witnessed a tornado this year (not counting a barely visible landspout in Nebraska) and I've gone 0 for 21 in chases this year. It's not like I haven't been out. With that said, I've seen more photogenic storms this past month than the abysmal May of 2014, so it's not necessarily my worst chase season on record, but after seeing tornadoes in April or earlier in the first four years of my chase career, it's June and I've seen none this year.
I know many chasers who've gone out two days or less, with some having not chased at all yet this year. Not everyone is fortunate enough to live in the Plains and/or have a flexible work schedule to go out and chase on a whim.
The year is not over yet, but the prospects are fairly bleak. All we can do is stay optimistic, be thankful for what we have seen and look ahead to the future.
