2019 Chase Season Epilogue: How was yours?

[Adam Reagan]

While this year was better for me than the previous two years, it was still somewhat disappointing considering how many chases I went on.

The Good: I saw the best supercell structure in my life in the Eastern Texas Panhandle on April 3rd. I saw my first Nebraska tornadoes on May 17th. And I saw my first June tornado as well as my first 2% tornado south of Putnam, OK on June 15th.

The Bad: I missed the Seymour, TX tornadoes on May 1st despite targeting Wichita Falls that day. My chase partner had media obligations and had to stay in the OKC market. We did see a brief tornado near Marietta, OK. I missed the Canadian wedge despite only being a few miles away from it. The road network and the HP nature of that supercell made it unsafe for us to pursue it.

The Ugly: Screw up the Mangum day by getting impatient and going after the supercell south of the Red River. River crossings were limited. Got suckered into going after the northern storm that was tornado warned on the Tulia day and missed seeing the Tulia tornadoes.

While I was disappointed I didn't see more tornadoes this year I was happy to have had a decent year after 2017 and 2018 were piss poor years for me.

 

[ScottCurry]

First of all... who would have thought that we would have Target Area Reports on August 11, 13, 14, and 15? This is the season that just won't end.

For me this was a great season for a couple of reasons.

1. I got to take my first chasecation ever. And even though I didn't take my chasecation in the last week of May, I did capture the McCook, NE tornado, which was quite possibly the most photogenic tornado of the season. I'm also very happy that I didn't miss any tornados that I could have otherwise seen had I done something different. And on the days where there were no tornados, I captured the best structure around.
2. A more sonder reason. I was happy that the May 20 SPC High Risk day was a bust. I can't count the number of storm chasers I spoke with who were all wishing that day would be a bust. I remember Daniel Shaw gathering 8 or 9 storm chasers together - all with rescue equipment, medical equipment, and medical training - to chase together in full anticipation of a major catastrophe. I thank God for answering my prayers that the day was a bust.
3. One of my 5 year olds (I have twins) got to see his first tornado on August 11! Now... he actually saw 2 tornados (I only saw one). I'll be sharing that story in The Chase: 2019 Storm Chasing Documentary.

That said, this was quite possibly the most difficult and challenging chase season I've ever experienced. On some days, there was only a single clear target and chaser convergence was extreme. On other days, there was no clear target and I found myself sitting in gas station parking lots studying the tools at pivotalweather.com when normally I would be chasing based upon the radar. It all worked out though, as my on-the-go forecasting landed me a number of tornados that many other storm chasers missed.

My biggest struggle this year was dealing with the high precipitation, hazy, and low contrast conditions that plagued this season. My first chase day this year was May 7th. The drive down to Texas was nothing but overcast skies and a huge area of non-severe rain. My first tornado this year was the Tulia, TX rain wrapped tornado. And with the exception of McCook, it didn't get much better. In fact, the contrast on the May 20 Paducah, TX tornado was so bad, that it didn't even show up on my video.

So in summary, it was difficult and challenging, but also wonderful and exciting at the same time.

I look forward to next season. I already have some new equipment installed and other equipment purchased and ready to go.

As some of you may know, I chase all weather - not just tornadoes. I captured some insane footage of the Bomb Cyclone that hit Colorado Springs this year, and I hope to capture more awesome footage this fall and winter. So maybe I'll see you out sooner rather than later!

 

[Quincy Vagell]

Time to follow-up since what I consider to be my summer chasing season is over.

Although I did not chase much in July, between the end of the month and a few chases in August, I finally had some classic, slow-moving supercells to chase across the High Plains, when few if any other chasers were out on the roads.

In fact, I had several chase days (at one point, three in a row) that featured one or more supercells in eastern Colorado. I managed to catch two tornadoes in that area on August 13th, ending a long string of tornado-less chases, that dated back to late May. After rewiewing stats, I was a bit surprised to find out that August has been a lot more friendly for me in terms of tornadoes than July. With that said, I've certainly seen my fair share of intense storms in July, even if they did not produce tornadoes.

Either way, most of my mid to late summer chases this year were filled with one or more intense, photogenic supercells. That continues the theme of this chase year, in which I have stepped up my photography game. With that said, August 13th was another chase with tornadoes, but no single tornado photo that was remarkable. I watched tornadoes for several minutes during that chase, but didn't want to stop in the pouring rain with powerlines blocking view to try to get a tornado photo. I think I made the right decision, but it was very 2019-esque to chase more tornadoes, but come out of the chase without any solid photographs of the tornadoes.

This year, in my own subjective chase experiences, stopping to take storm photos was almost always more enjoyable/rewarding than rushing to get into range for a brief and/or grungy tornado.

What I need to do in the future is take more risks when chasing. This doesn't mean going rogue and bailing out on a supercell, but avoiding situations in which I know I'll be dealing with crowds, high-precipitation junk or poor terrain. This year, I did not chase as much "garbage" as I had earlier in my career. For a variety of reasons, I did not chase much east of I-35 and I'm not complaining at all. Sure, there are a few cases in which you can get a really good setup in the Midwest/Mississippi Valley, but I'll almost always find a storm chase over the High Plains more enjoyable, even if it's just a marginal setup.

It's hard to ignore storms in April and especially May, but in a perfect world, I think I will try to take more time off in July and August next year. It's a little bit of a gamble, but if one is willing to travel for storms, summer has chase opportunities as well. Some of my most memorable storm chases have happened in the summer in the Northern Plains and I still need to cross off a Canadian tornado for my bucket list. June will always be a favorite month and it's hard to pass up on late May as well, but I have to say, chasing with largely empty roads with slow-moving supercells over the past 4-6 weeks has been a breath of fresh air compared to the convergence and traffic from May of this year.

Before I go too much off on a tangent, I finally had a Wyoming chase last week and returned to South Dakota a few days ago. I almost chased in North Dakota, but opted to visit some friends and explore ghost towns instead, since the storm threat was not all that impressive. The only Plains state that I did not get to this year was Montana. I really miss the Northern Plains, even if it gets a bad rap for tornadoes, assuming there isn't a cap bust, there really are at least a few prolific storms up there most summers.

 

[Jeff House]

I'll give it a B letter grade. C could be justified but I'll grade on the recent (17-18) curve.

We saw two tornadoes on two cycles (1 tornado each). Second tornado is what saves 2019 from C average. Both were near Miami, OK on May 22. Second was a little meh. First was a pretty finesse tornado where we could just sit and soak up the scene. Report in Target Area.

May 20 Magnum we focused on avoiding the herd and missed the tornado. May 21 was a repo day to ICT. May 22 was the good day. May 23 we made an unnecessary adjustment and missed Canadian.

My real reason for posting is to unequivocally declare 2004 the best chase season I can recall. May featured three days where cyclical supercells were documented with tornadoes 3-4 cycles each day. They were photogenic, near good roads, and with manageable speed. I did not get to chase them all (shift work) but I lived right there in Wichita. Luckily I did get to chase Harper-Attica.

2019 may end up more like 2015 with the visibility and slop issues. It was a good but challenging chase year. Maybe my standards are low; but, I do know 2004, 2008, 2010, 2013 and 2016 were all better (personally). Cheers!

 

[Todd Lemery]

Well, I’m finally giving up on the season. Per usual, my pictures aren’t exactly high quality, but do come from a decent phone.
The year started off for me in McCook, Nebraska. I ended up seeing four tornadoes which probably wouldn’t have happened if I didn’t get going right away to keep up with the storm after the first tornado. I seemed to always be just in time to catch the next one.
The next was a tornado by Mangum. I was on the storm early, but could never get back in position again. This pic was cropped a ton because it was a ways out.
Keeping with that theme, got this wedge on May 21st in NE Kansas. This storm put down several other tornadoes before and after this one. At a great distance again
The next day I caught another one by Carl’s Junction, Missouri. It did a bunch of damage in a residential area there and I spent about three hours there clearing trees off the roadways and shutting gas off. Horrible picture, but constant roadblocks made it a tough chase
Had some close, but no cigar chases until August 15th. One of the nicest wall clouds I’ve ever seen, preceded three different tornadoes. Here’s a couple as dark was falling.
There was a couple more minor spin ups that aren’t included. All in all it was pretty satisfying year considering the disaster of a year I had last year. On to 2020!