Jeff Wright
EF4
- Joined
- Apr 23, 2010
- Messages
- 406
A challenge yes--but with any luck you might have less congested roads than when you have a high risk out west.
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After witnessing the continued decrease of involvement in the SpotterNetwork staff in serving SN members with troubleshooting issues recently, I have unilaterally decided to terminate the relationship between SpotterNetwork's support and Stormtrack. I have witnessed multiple users unable to receive support weeks after initiating help threads on the forum. I find this lack of response from SpotterNetwork officials disappointing and a failure to hold up their end of the agreement that was made years ago, before I took over management of this site. In my opinion, having Stormtrack users sit and wait for so long to receive help on SpotterNetwork issues on the Stormtrack forums reflects poorly not only on SpotterNetwork, but on Stormtrack and (by association) me as well. Since the issue has not been satisfactorily addressed, I no longer wish for the Stormtrack forum to be associated with SpotterNetwork.
I apologize to those who continue to have issues with the service and continue to see their issues left unaddressed. Please understand that the connection between ST and SN was put in place long before I had any say over it. But now that I am the "captain of this ship," it is within my right (nay, duty) to make adjustments as I see necessary. Ending this relationship is such an adjustment.
For those who continue to need help, I recommend navigating a web browswer to SpotterNetwork's About page, and seeking the individuals listed on that page for all further inquiries about SpotterNetwork.
From this moment forward, the SpotterNetwork sub-forum has been hidden/deleted and there will be no assurance that any SpotterNetwork issues brought up in any of Stormtrack's other sub-forums will be addressed. Do not rely on Stormtrack for help with SpotterNetwork issues.
Sincerely, Jeff D.
April 26-28, 2011 "Dixie Alley Tornado Outbreak"...Greatest in history?
Wes Carter
EF5
I can understand where you are coming from to a degree, but living near the Alabama line and chasing down there every chance I get and chasing in the Great Plains I'd choose to chase in the Plains every time if I could. True, there are chaser convergences at times in the Plains but outside of May 10 and 19 of last year which had a lot of mitigating circumstances that have been much discussed in other threads (high risk, near OKC, TWC broadcasting location of V2, Storm Chasers TV show, etc...) you can usually navigate the roads fairly easily.
In Alabama (and most of the area east of the Mississippi, no, make that east of I-35) you often have to fight traffic that isn't chasing. On many of our roads, one car slowing down to 30mph on a two lane road because of rain or whatever can effectively kill a chase because it might be a while before you can safely pass. Couple that with the normally greater-than-30mph storm motions and it pretty much sucks sometimes.
That being said, it is not impossible. You are right, there are some areas you can get a great view. I like chasing west of Huntsville along route 72. It's pretty flat and you can usually make good time. However, even there you are boxed in north/south by the Tennessee River and hills along the Tennessee line. The difference is in the Southeast you usually have to position yourself in front of the storm and hope to get a good view as it goes by. Out in the Plains you can follow the same storm for sometimes 100 miles which greatly increases your odds for being on that storm when it produces.
And I'm not sure what it was doing there, but I saw a DOW truck in Huntsville 2 years ago. I don't know if they were studying storms there, if it belonged to UA or some university in Alabama, if it belonged to Baron Services, or if they build them there. It was white and looked brand new (still glossy). It was going the opposite direction as me on I-565 near the airport so I could not get a look to see what the writing said, if there was any.
In Alabama (and most of the area east of the Mississippi, no, make that east of I-35) you often have to fight traffic that isn't chasing. On many of our roads, one car slowing down to 30mph on a two lane road because of rain or whatever can effectively kill a chase because it might be a while before you can safely pass. Couple that with the normally greater-than-30mph storm motions and it pretty much sucks sometimes.
That being said, it is not impossible. You are right, there are some areas you can get a great view. I like chasing west of Huntsville along route 72. It's pretty flat and you can usually make good time. However, even there you are boxed in north/south by the Tennessee River and hills along the Tennessee line. The difference is in the Southeast you usually have to position yourself in front of the storm and hope to get a good view as it goes by. Out in the Plains you can follow the same storm for sometimes 100 miles which greatly increases your odds for being on that storm when it produces.
And I'm not sure what it was doing there, but I saw a DOW truck in Huntsville 2 years ago. I don't know if they were studying storms there, if it belonged to UA or some university in Alabama, if it belonged to Baron Services, or if they build them there. It was white and looked brand new (still glossy). It was going the opposite direction as me on I-565 near the airport so I could not get a look to see what the writing said, if there was any.
Randy Bowers
EF1
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