5/19 Chaser Convergence

[Brandon Goforth]

Compare the 18th to the 19th is frightening! So my question is what happened? Was that the difference between moderate and high risk threat? Was it the location?

Both, high risks will attract many more people across good terrain. That, and also the fact that everyone in central Oklahoma thinks they are storm chasers...literally.

 

[JR Hehnly]

I'll just leave this here...

May 19, 2010 - Highway 33 East of Kingfisher

 

[Doug Ott]

You know with Storm Troopers out there I am thinking we could finally have a sequel to Super Troopers. We even have the discovery crew out there to film it for us. Anyone good at script writing.

 

[Bryan Stokes]

I'll just leave this here...

A picture is worth a thousand words. Great pic!

Bryan

 

[Jesse Risley]

I'll just leave this here...

May 19, 2010 - Highway 33 East of Kingfisher

Sure don't look none too prosperous.

 

[Jacob Ferden]

You know with Storm Troopers out there I am thinking we could finally have a sequel to Super Troopers. We even have the discovery crew out there to film it for us. Anyone good at script writing.

 

[Doug Ott]

I'll just leave this here...

May 19, 2010 - Highway 33 East of Kingfisher

Perhaps Obama adiministration can add more paved roads and better road networks for chasers.

 

[Tony Cook]

FWIW, I was on the eastern cell from west of Hennessey through StillWater on Hwy 51 yesterday. There were a lot of chasers, but from my perspective, almost everyone was behaving responsibly. Granted, there were almost certainly a bit fewer folks on the eastern cell- I guess Vortex2 was mainly on the Guthrie cell. Sounds like it was substantially more congested down there. The Hwy 51 herd also probably got thinned by the Hennessey roadblock, which I apparently narrowly avoided.

The worst thing I saw yesterday was a vehicle running red and blues that was almost certainly not LEO. I have been seeing the occasional red-and-blue chasers for years, though- nothing new there.

As many have alluded to, the numbers are just part of chasing now. Pandora's box has been opened. A tornado can't fart in the woods without being on 50 streams these days. Let's face it- what we do is awesome. The Hwy 51 supercell yesterday is case and point of that- multiple tornadoes, funnels, extreme low-level motion... hardly a dull moment for four straight hours. No wonder every one wants to experience that.

Similar experience Tuesday on the Dumas cell- quite a few chasers, but almost everyone I saw was being courteous and responsible.

TonyC

P.S. Wow, just saw JR Hehnly's pic of the Hwy 33 caravan. Definitely not nearly that crowded on the eastern cell.

 

[Ryan Wichman]

I was not chasing Wednesday and have tried to keep myself out of this discussion, but I thought many of you would like to see this tweet from TWC. Knowing that not many people use twitter, I thought it should be shared here.

"TORNADOHUNT:Chasers behaving badly. The story 2nite at 7et on TWC. V2 operations severely compromised by chaser traffic weds. http://tinyurl.com/28sgvyz "

The link goes Steve Miller's now infamous video of the TIV passing many cars uphill on a 2 lane highway. It will be interesting to see what the presentation actually says tonight.

 

[Marcus Opitz]

Times have sure changed since I started in the mid 1990s. I believe access to large amounts of data give many people an inflated sense of confidence in their abilities to make an intercept. Many of us can remember using payphones to get a radar update from friends/family and miraculously get in the perfect position. (although, that was not normally the case for me )

This season has been sparse up until about a month ago so that might have something to do with it as well.

 

[Mike Mezeul II]

My video...

Here is a snip of some video I shot of the TIV and other chasers driving beyond reckless...I think the video speaks for itself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxgI_wQ9r18

 

[Cody Clair]

Here's a response from Sean Casey's Facebook:

I'm responding to video of the TIV convoy passing other chasers and the complaint that we were doing so unsafely. I realize that people do not know that our team has radios and that we give a "clear" to the follow vehicles so they know that there is no oncoming traffic. Also I am up in the turret so that I can get a better perspective of traffic ahead. Also the video that I saw was "zoomed" in, optically compressing space, so that the hill and vehicles seems closer together than in reality. Finally, the TIV or any of it's follow vehicles have never been in or caused an accident. Also, want to say that I appreciate your concern for chasers safety and I will do my best to make it a priority for my entire team for the rest of the season. I'm not perfect, I know that more than anyone, but I really respect the chaser community and I take your comments seriously.

 

[Joey Ketcham]

Sean Casey just made a comment on his FB about the situation with TIV and Discovery Channel, I'll clean it up and post it as a single statement so it's less confusing but here is Sean's response to all of this:

"I'm responding to video of the TIV convoy passing other chasers and the complaint that we were doing so unsafely. I realize that people do not know that our team has radios and that we give a "clear" to the follow vehicles so they know that there is no oncoming traffic. Also I am up in the turret so that I can get a ...better perspective of traffic ahead.

Also the video that I saw was "zoomed" in, optically compressing space, so that the hill and vehicles seems closer together than in reality. Finally, the TIV or any of it's follow vehicles have never been in or caused an accident."

 

[Paul Hadfield]

Here's a response from Sean Casey's Facebook:

I'm responding to video of the TIV convoy passing other chasers and the complaint that we were doing so unsafely. I realize that people do not know that our team has radios and that we give a "clear" to the follow vehicles so they know that there is no oncoming traffic. Also I am up in the turret so that I can get a better perspective of traffic ahead. Also the video that I saw was "zoomed" in, optically compressing space, so that the hill and vehicles seems closer together than in reality. Finally, the TIV or any of it's follow vehicles have never been in or caused an accident.

Semi's have radio's and a better view than regular vehicles yet they're not above the law. As for accidents, there's a first time for everything.

 

[Justin Wiley]

Just because you have radios and are giving teammates the "all-clear", still gives nobody any right to pass on a solid yellow line. It's there for a reason and it's the law.

And I don't think you could come up with a worse excuse for somebody by saying "well our team hasn't been in an accident before.." Seriously?

Those videos are absolutely alarming.