Bad Road Networks in the Alley

[Jason Foster]

I would like to get some additional opinions on areas were chasing is quite difficult due to the bad road network, or other conditions that prevent following a storm for medium to long distances.

I'm interested only in the areas within the main tornado alley (see link below for graphic area of interest).

I already have ruled out the major metro areas, so I'm mostly looking for other areas and terrains.

http://www.weatherwarrior.net/images/chaser-alley.gif

 

[cdcollura]

Good day,

The road networks get poor in the following areas based on some of my chases...

1). Southwest of Murdo, SD.
2). In far northern ND near Devils Lake.
3). Anywhere in and around the Ozarks (SW, south-central to east-central MO).
4). Southeastern NM (south of Carlsbad).
5). Portions of SW Wisconsin.
6). Portions of eastern Minnesota.
7). Anywhere near the Mississippi river.
8). West-central Arkansas.
9). NE Texas.
10). East-central Oklahoma.

 

[Wesley Luginbyhl]

Anywhere near or along the Canadian River in the TX Panhandle. From Highway 287 to Canadian, TX the road options are few and far between. The ones that are there are not usually paved and probably have a gate across them.

 

[Jeff Snyder]

From my chasing experience, the areas east of Hwy 69 from I44 southward to McAlester (if not southward to the OK/TX border) in eastern Oklahoma is quite unfriendly chase territory (roads+terrain). There is a small area on either side of I40 that isn't too bad, but my rule of thumb is to try to stay west of 69 in eastern Oklahoma. There's about 10 miles worth of roads to the east of 69 where the roads still seem to be pretty good, but hills, trees, and winding roads are considerably more likely beyond that.

There's also a few smaller areas in southcentral Oklahoma that are pretty tree-filled and road-limited, but I can't remember any specifics at this time.

In my experience, far southwestern MO isn't too bad as long as you don't go more than one or two dozen miles south of I40 (i.e. north of Hwy 60 that runs in a general NE-SW orientation south of I44). I've only chased the area between Springfield and the MO/KS border, but areas north of I40 (e.g. around Joplin) are just fine IMO.

Google Maps now includes a terrain overlay, which seems to help quite a bit in determining where terrain and forests are most likely to be a significant hindrance.

 

[Ryan McGinnis]

Northwest Nebraska directly north of Ogallala is pretty crummy chase territory. The "roads" up there deserve the scare quotes, and in places they only have intersections every 50 miles or so.

 

[Ben Prusia]

Cannot forget the Flint Hills of central/east central Kansas. The roads around there are not in straight lines and a few times the roads are far in between. Look up Matfield Green, KS on any mapping site and you will see.

 

[Jim Saueressig]

Cannot forget the Flint Hills of central/east central Kansas. The roads around there are not in straight lines and a few times the roads are far in between. Look up Matfield Green, KS on any mapping site and you will see.

Adding to the Matfield Green / Flint hills area you should consider that in places you will be limited across that whole area with overpasses going over the Kansas Turnpike.

 

[Bobby Prentice]

"When and Where to Chase"...Roads

I've got an article in the storm chasing section my Atmospheric Images web page titled "When and Where to Chase." In that article I highlight Harold Brook's (NSSL) definition of "Tornado Alley" and my "Chase Alley" which subjectively highlights preferred storm chase regions of the US based on tornado frequency, forest density, topography, road network, visibility and photographic lightning (i.e., general lack of fog, stratus, haze, smog, etc).

ROADS

The biggest, meanest tornadic storm in the world is useless to a storm chaser unless he has enough good roads to follow the storm and obtain a view of the storm's updraft base. Paved roads are much preferred, though chasers will drive on gravel roads if conditions are not too bad. Dirt roads are generally avoided since they can turn into slippery mud during a rainstorm. I do not have a map of road density per county for the US (If you know of one, please tell me).

The best rural road network across "Chase Alley" exists in west central Texas in the agricultural areas around Lubbock. This area is the ultimate in "chaser nirvana" with grid of paved section line roads just about every mile. Texas has the best rural road network in the plains. Roads which are gravel in Kansas, Nebraska and Colorado would be paved if they were in Texas.

Another region with a very good rural road network is the "Corn Belt." (eastern Nebraska/Dakotas to western Ohio). Although most of the "Corn Belt" is not technically located in my definition of "Chase Alley," it is relatively flat terrain and has a high tornado frequency. It is the second best storm chase region after the Great Plains.

The region with the worst road network in or near "Chase Alley" is the Sand Hills region of Nebraska. There are very few roads and many great storms have been missed in this region. Other areas in or near "Chase Alley" with a poor road network include: southwest Texas, eastern New Mexico (except for the Clovis/Portales area), parts of eastern Colorado, eastern Wyoming and the western Dakotas. Many of these areas are still chaseable, however, due to flat terrain and/or great visibility and lighting.

One final vexing area for roads is the Canadian River Valley in the Texas Panhandle. It's very likely that I (and many other chasers) missed seeing significant tornadoes with a supercell in northeast Hutchinson County, Texas in May 2007 because the area east of Stinnett, Texas is totally devoid of roads. Only the jackrabbits saw that show :-(

 

[Dennis Sherrod]

Bobby,
This is great. Thank you. Interesting maps

 

[Tyler_Costantini]

County Road Allenreed, TX I-40 to Hwy 287 near Clarendon, TX
Gray and Donley Counties.

http://www.tornadonerds.com/images/stormtrack/texas-crap-road.jpg

This road caused us to miss tornadoes! It looks like a decent road as far as roads go in the panhandle of Texas. But its a tease, it starts as decent two lane then complete crap, mud / rock, with a few creeks to drive through..

 

[Doug Lee]

Just an follow up to Jeff's post: I-40 does not go through Missouri, but I-44 does. I remember a loooong bus ride from Sapulpa OK to Ft. Leonard Wood MO up I-44 when the National Guard sent me there for basic training. I also remember travelling along I-40 to Ft. Chaffe (SE of Ft. Smith) a few times for summer camp, and also quite a few times to Little Rock on a long-term temp assignment.
I wasn't thinking about storms much at those times, but I remember lots of hills and trees. It wasn't all hills and trees, but a lot.

 

[Darrin Rasberry]

The forest density estimation for central Iowa (particularly Ames) is incorrect. The roads are okay and the network is excellent here.

 

[scott r currens]

The forest density estimation for central Iowa (particularly Ames) is incorrect. The roads are okay and the network is excellent here.

It looks like the corn belt is showing up as forest in image above. I never have any luck chasing in Iowa but is not because of trees. The image below shows areas of forest in the US. It is not nearly as bad as the first image would make to think.

http://www.violentplains.com/2008_Pictures/US%20Trees.jpg

FWIW, here is my depiction of chase alley:
http://www.violentplains.com/2008_Pictures/US%20Chase%20Country.jpg

 

[Bob Schafer]

Eastern CO is also pretty devoid of roads, particularly near the NM state line. In addition, cellphone and radar coverage are bad there! There are some dirt roads that tend to be in good shape, but that brings up other issues for another thread.

I will never, never chase in SE OK again. (E of 35, S of 40).

I've been to SD and ND a couple times now, and I think they are my favorite chasing states for the overall brew of road networks, treelessness, flatness, and rurality (Is that a word? Ruralness?). There are probably a lot more tornadoes in those states than the maps show, too.

 

[Laura Duchesne]

From my experience, SE Montana can be added to the list, although this area is on the outskirts of the alley. Quite hilly and very little road options... try chasing a supercell and viewing a tornado with that, blech!

As well as I80 in western Iowa... hills and lots of trees.

And last but not least, Nebraska's Cherry county. Just basically one road going north and nothing but you and the hills... although there is a nice scenic lookout along the way on hwy 83, it overlooks a river snaking in between the hills... it's nice scenery but definitely wouldn't want to chase here. At least Valentine has a really delicious steak house you can go to after a successful chase!

As for SD, it's quite a nice state for chasing, minus the Badlands. I've got a few chases in that state, including 3 tornadoes on June 5, 2006.