Advice for first plains trip

[DRMabe]

I'm just seeking some advice as I'm starting the early planning stages of my first plains trip I plan to make in May 2012. Planning to come out around the middle of May, and still til the end of the month. Trying to decide on driving my personal vehicle or flying and renting a car.

First off, I'm in Winston Salem NC, roughly 19 hours-1,115 miles one way from my driveway to Oklahoma City. I don't mind long drives at all, so I'd likely drive 12-14 hours the first day and the next day I would finish. So looking at a day and a half to get there, and a day and a half to get back. 3 days of vacation time just spent traveling. If gas prices are around $3-$3.50, I should spend about $145 each way in gas.

Second option, fly and rent a car. I could probably fly for about what the gas to and from will cost me ($300 +/-$50). For some reason it's cheaper to fly to Wichita KS than to OKC, so I would likely go that route. Car rental for 2 weeks, I'm figuring maybe $950 or so. I'd obviously want full insurance. But for those of you that rent cars, or have rented.....how does the insurance work in the event of alot of hail damage? I plan to try and completely avoid any large hail if possible because I don't want to lose windows or have to drive the car back to them damaged. I'm figuring on either a full size car or an SUV. I plan to avoid muddy roads, don't care to get stuck somewhere.


Just any advice will be helpful as I will consider almost anything. I'm hoping I can do the full trip for around $2,800, hopefully less. At this time I'll be coming alone, but I hope that will change or I can meet up with somebody here to run with out there. I have about 14-15 months to plan this thing, so I'm open to all suggestions. I do chase some locally when we get severe weather, but due to trees and hills, it's just not the same as it would be there. I have "some" chase experience though.

I do know for fact that I will be driving out to KS in June of 2013 and my wife and kids will be with me. They will be visiting a friend for a week or so while I break off and go do my thing.

 

[Andrew Ryan]

Have you ever chased on the Plains before? Do you have any experience chasing? If you answered no to either of those questions, I will highly recommend chasing with an experienced partner or going on a tour. Otherwise you will likely end up frustrated or possibly put yourself in a dangerous situation. Just something to consider before going on a solo endeavor.

 

[DRMabe]

Have you ever chased on the Plains before? Do you have any experience chasing? If you answered no to either of those questions, I will highly recommend chasing with an experienced partner or going on a tour. Otherwise you will likely end up frustrated or possibly put yourself in a dangerous situation. Just something to consider before going on a solo endeavor.

I do have some experience, but not on the plains. I'd like to locate some experienced people that do chase out there to get with. It's so far away that I haven't really tried to find anybody yet.

 

[Jacob Ferden]

I will echo what Andrew said about going with someone experienced to start out, even though I'm being hypocritical because I started out completely on my own. The reality is, in my first two years chasing, I busted a lot, and scored some great storms and tornadoes, but I had to do it all the hard way. I also got into enough hairy situations (and, as you'll learn, storms in the Alley can turn nasty in a hurry) where, if I could go back and do it over again, I probably would have started out tagging along instead of just throwing myself to the wolves.

Just something to consider.

 

[Skip Talbot]

I'll second a tour. You should check out College of Dupage:
http://weather.cod.edu/chasing/

Its not just a tourist operation, you'll be learning the entire time. You're planning far enough out in advance (2012) that you should have your pick of dates to go (I hope). They are also very reasonably priced compared to other tours.

Then in 2013 when you're out there with the family you should have a ton of experience that you can apply on your own.

I think you'll get the most bang for your buck with a tour. Otherwise, definitely do try to hook up with people. Good luck if you go it out on your own for your first plains trips. Many of us started out that way and came out alright after many a failed attempt. I wish I could offer more advice about renting a car, but I have never done it for chasing so I'm quite sure how it would all work.

 

[Darren Cheney]

I have rented to chase on the plains twice, made sure I had full coverage (LDW) both times. First time in '08 managed to return car with no hail damage but some evil person scraped my side mirror in a car park 2 days before I returned it which after several weeks was frustrating. Last year got a fair pummeling of minor dents over the entire car, we just returned it and got no grief. Hee hee, they are letting us rent again this year so all good! The full LDW is not cheap particularly for an extended period so the car company is doing ok!

 

[Rob H]

In the back half of May you might want to consider being a little further north than OKC. Somewhere on, or in between, I70 and I80 would be ideal, like in Salina, KS or Hays, KS. Climatically speaking, you'll still get setups further south, but you'll be cursing the extra 10 hours you need to drive for the more common chases at that time of the year.

It's old data, but it's still useful to try and guess where you should setup camp at certain times of the year:

http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/hazard/threatdays/monthanim.html

 

[Bill Tabor]

I recommend you try and schedule it as tentatively as possible and instead make it flexible so you can base it on how active the pattern is; otherwise you may be wasting your time. Climatologically 2nd half of May is a peak, but there are no guarantees.

You can come out and chase alone - that's how I started back in '93 with only a NOAA weather radio, road map, and a video camera. However there are risks. It is preferable to study and understand storm structure, dangerous aspects of storms (so you know what to avoid), good chaser practices. It's also good to have the proper equipment / software as it can make you more effective and potentially safer. On the downside it increases the multitasking complexity and distraction factor.

If you've never chased on the Plains, then perhaps likely you have never seen an intense storm system or outbreak. If you time it to hit one of those you may scare the crap out of yourself because it is like ground zero in OK during such events. Odds are low that will happen to you, but we had at least a couple of high risk days in OK last season with tornadoes. My point is it is hard to fathom intense supercellular storms unless you've seen them and been around them.

 

[DRMabe]

I have 4 weeks of vacation time, and I can put in for them whenever I want. So I can do early May, or whenever. I don't think I'd like a tour as much as I would just chasing with a partner or two. That way there are no set dates and I could extend my time out there if needed, as well as some freedom of what we do. I've been through a couple of Hurricanes (Cat 3 and 4). Saw a weaker tornado years ago when I was young. I've been in some fairly intense weather, at least intense for where I live. I have been studying alot online on storm structure and behavior, but would like to see the real thing a few times to really get a sense of how it all works tied with what I've read.

If I did in fact end up coming alone and in my own vehicle, I would bring a decent amount of equipment. 17" laptop with GRLevel3, GPS, paper maps of the areas for backup, Evo 4g phone (Sprint) as data source, scanner, first aid kits, flares, reflective vest, duct tape and plastic, toolbox with basic tools, full size spare, flashlight, gloves and work boots, 2 DSLR cameras and camcorder with tripod, etc. If I end up traveling around out there with somebody else, I'd contribute whatever equipment needed, and go in half on gas, food, and lodging. I'd also be able to fill any roll needed as far as navigation, extra eyes, driving etc.

I'd like to slip out there this year, but if I did it would be for maybe 1 week in early May. I have the rest of my 2011 vacation tied up for a Summer and a Nov trip to Florida.

 

[DRMabe]

As far as scheduling vacation, with my job we have to put in our requested weeks by the end of Nov the previous year. You are then assigned weeks you requested based on seniority order with others who want the same weeks. I've never had trouble getting my 1st or second choice though. We can change a vacation once it's assigned, but they don't generally like to do that without good reason. It's not hard for me to add a few days to the beginning or end of a vacation either, so I can come early or extend a trip as needed.

 

[Mike Krzywonski]

I use American Express rental car protection:https://www295.americanexpress.com/premium/car-rental-insurance-coverage/home.do?intlink=premiumprotecthub_browsepromos_pcrpmonitoring

This way, you are able to decline the more expensive insurance offered by the rental agencies. I've never returned a car w/ hail damage. However, last year I accidentally hit a deer that darted in front of me at night which resulted in damage to the vehicle. All I had to do was call American Express, & it was covered.

 

[Jason Foster]

I use American Express rental car protection:https://www295.americanexpress.com/premium/car-rental-insurance-coverage/home.do?intlink=premiumprotecthub_browsepromos_pcrpmonitoring

Best damn option for renting cars out there...and not just for chasing.

I would also recommend:
- start learning county names and highways (the interstates and US routes) will help you navigate w/out looking at a map/screen.
- get to know the spots chasers dont' like to chase
- study the topography. Understand the extents of the Caprock, where the rivers are (and this goes back to map thing) and the bridges that cross them.
- learn as much about the central plains outside of chasing. Learn what the people are like, learn about other things to do.
- set boundaries for yourself. As a newbie, you need to focus on working with what you got first. Like I wouldn't run all over the central US. Stick with a primary area. That area may change based on the pattern, but a newbie trying to race from S.Dakota to Texas then to Missiouri, then over to New Mexico isn't going to be productive.

 

[DRMabe]

Best damn option for renting cars out there...and not just for chasing.

I would also recommend:
- start learning county names and highways (the interstates and US routes) will help you navigate w/out looking at a map/screen.
- get to know the spots chasers dont' like to chase
- study the topography. Understand the extents of the Caprock, where the rivers are (and this goes back to map thing) and the bridges that cross them.
- learn as much about the central plains outside of chasing. Learn what the people are like, learn about other things to do.
- set boundaries for yourself. As a newbie, you need to focus on working with what you got first. Like I wouldn't run all over the central US. Stick with a primary area. That area may change based on the pattern, but a newbie trying to race from S.Dakota to Texas then to Missiouri, then over to New Mexico isn't going to be productive.

I've been studying the area quite a bit. Especially in Google Maps and using their street view alot to get an idea of how the land is in certain areas. Planning to stay primarily in TX panhandle, OK, KS, and NE. Mostly depending on where it's happening. I'll have plenty to do on "down days". I enjoy photography, and it will be my first trip to the plains. So I'll just go out and shoot a bit those days and just check out the towns. Read somewhere on here about staying north of I-40 and west of I-35, so I'm considering that as well.

I appreciate ALL the advice I've gotten here! I am always willing to listen and learn from those with more experience. I don't really care for the "know it all" type, and strive to never be one myself. That comes mostly from training people at work. I work for a large railroad, and they hire alot of people....some of those being "railfans". Most but not all of those guys already "know everything" and don' like to listen. Gets annoying, so I tend to listen to advice and I'm always open to suggestions. After all, I'm coming out there to see some big storms and staying safe in the process. So I'll take any help I can get.

 

[Damon Scott Hynes]

Be very careful when you get on a turnpike (toll road). You can't turn on a dime (Kansas Tpk has an exit every twenty miles or so.)

When your tank gets to half-empty, top off. Time has a habit of getting away from you, and there's also the chance all the stations in a town will be without power.

Reliable data is great, but also get to know the good radio stations in your area.

I like railroads, too. The quickest way for me to fall out of love would be to actually get a job at one, lol.

 

[Jason Foster]

I like railroads, too. The quickest way for me to fall out of love would be to actually get a job at one, lol.

Fall out of love of storm chasing if you actually worked at a Railroad? OR fall out of love railroading?

I believe I heard CSX is hiring in or around Mid-Atlantic and a few points south. I'm not real sure though.