Bro, do you even chase?

[Jake Orosi]

Well this is the year. I have obtained the perfect and ultimate chase vehicle (a Pontiac Grand Prix, slightly used), and have outfitted it with Accessories (like some tires, the expensive kind of wiper blades, and brake fluid); I have a camera, and just recently obtained a smartphone with data access. Finally, all the pieces have fallen into place. Over the past couple of years I've been around locally for some severe events; but I think this is the year I might finally consider a trip into Texas or Oklahoma for a couple days of some plains chasing, should things look like they might kick off. Sure is taking its time this year...

Now don't worry about me - again, vehicle and equipment-wise, I am prepared. Attitude-wise, I like to think I'm prepared; do not expect to see me entering bear cages (I'm scared of bears) or punching cores (I'm a pacifist, generally speaking) or trying to perform an endoscopy on the Wicked Witch of the West. I'm more than happy to take a picture from miles away, and not turning my perfect and ultimate chase vehicle into a perfect and ultimate chased vehicle. My credentials and qualifications are an imperfect knowledge of how to interpret numerical weather data (gained mostly from reading this site), a thoroughly unimpressive forecasting skill that sadly will only improve through direct testing and experience, about a half dozen local "chases" that have all been busts, both the First Aid and Emergency Preparedness merit badges, and college-level training in automotive care and repair.

But I'm interested in the logistics of chasing, because I don't have any such experience. Those of you who have done this a lot, I know that some of you are blessed enough to be in situations where you have some leeway to plan say one such trip a year on short notice. So to those of you:

Can you describe a typical mutli-day chasing adventure? Let's pretend today is Saturday (should be easy), and you notice what looks like an irresistible setup coming together for Oklahoma and Kansas on Wednesday and Thursday, possibly (but a little less likely) Missouri on Friday. And....GO! What plans do you make? What time do you leave, and why? When do you aim to arrive? Do you plan fuel, food, and lodging ahead of time, partially plan these things, or just completely wing it the entire time? Around how much money have you found you can guarantee spending at least, during a chase weekend? Do you sleep somewhere on location after the final evening's work, or do you make a straight shot for home? Are there any places chasers are likely to congregate (after all the storms), or is it a spontaneous kind of thing where if you're lucky enough you might drive by the random restaurant that a bunch of people happened to pick this evening?

What are some of those most memorable meta-experiences you've had chasing - things that made a chase special or stand-out, that don't necessarily involve getting The Video or taking a wrong turn and barely surviving The Big One?

 

[Donnie Beasley]

Great question!
I'm the type that really likes to save money. When I go out to chase, the only thing I want to spend money on is gas. If I am going to be out on a multi-day chase then I am going to pack several days worth of things that will keep for the days I am out there. I like to eat healthy as well so one thing I will do is make up several shaker cups with a couple scoops of protein powder and oats. When I wake up wherever I'm at I can just stop somewhere and get a container of milk to add to it and I have a protein shake. I will also take a jar of peanut butter, nuts, fruit, beef jerky, sandwiches, trail mix.

As far as lodging, wherever I hang my hat is my home. I will sleep at rest areas most of the time, or any quiet place I can find that I feel is safe. As far as whether I make a straight shot for home or sleep where the chase ends, I let the situation dictate. If I am chasing in OK one day and plan chasing KS the next then I will just find a place to sleep. But there have been many times on 1-day chases where I have made the trek back home same day. I really don't plan out the money thing too much. I usually am only spending money on gas and I make enough during the other 9 months of the year for gas money.

I typically like to make sure I am near my target area by 1pm- 2pm. Sometimes you get early initiation and you need to plan for that if it seems like that could be the case but those times work for me more often than not. The most memorable moment for me was probably 4-14-12 in Kansas. After a very good day I decided to call it a day as it had gotten dark and I started heading back toward Witchita. I got about 5 minutes away and there was a supercell producing what went on to be an EF-3 crossing the highway I was driving on. I had to pull over and wait for it to pass. First time in my life I dodged a supercell instead of chasing it!

 

[Jason Boggs]

For me, when I chase with Warren Faidley's team, we plan a little bit, but not a whole whole lot. If there are multiple days coming up, I pack all my gear and clothes, and we head out and get set up for the night before the big event. After the event, we check out the days ahead, and go from there. If there are no chases for a few days, we may go back to Amarillo and chill until the next possible chase. As far as making plans, we definitely keep our tanks full as much as we can during the chase, and we also book a motel for the night during the chase. Booking a motel in advance is a great idea, because in the evening they get full very quickly by chasers and travelers. A typical chase day including food, motels and gas would probably average around...

20-30 dollars for food
85-125 for a motel...we stay in Holiday Express motels as much as we can
50-100 for gas give or take.

so about 150-250 per day I'd say.

Important planning to keep in mind...

*Get to your target in plenty of time.
*Plan for gas stops, especially while actively chasing.
*Plan for getting a motel early in the day if at all possible. Sometimes we may get a motel that's close by after the chase, or sometimes we will drive closer to the next days risk area for a motel.

 

[Ben Holcomb]

In years past I would reserve anywhere from 1-3 rooms in areas I might end up with a Hampton Inn or other hilton property, but their policy has changed that you need to cancel 24 hours in advance instead of 6pm day of. That will be kind of annoying.

I'll use some real world examples from when I lived in Michigan for some chases I did.

4/16/2009 I drove down to Rolla, MO after leaving work at 5pm eastern on 4/14/09 and stayed the night with a friend there, then drove to Oklahoma City the next day and stayed with @Steve Miller that evening and hung out with some chasers. Headed out the morning of 4/16/09 and chased near Lubbock, then ended up the night in Plainview where I was able to get a room that night. Drove to DFW the next day and rode roller coasters at Six Flags then ended up back at Steve's that night, then drove home the next day.

May 10, 2010. May 9th was mothers day so I had lunch with my mom then drove to Joplin. I had reserved a motel room that morning and arrived a little after midnight. I slept then got up and headed to Tulsa to pick up @Eric Treece from the airport and we drove out basically to Enid stopping only in Perry to get him a tripod at Walmart. Filled up in Enid and saw a tornado in Northern OK. Ended up at a hotel in Eastern OK that night, then chased again the next day in NW OK, and stayed in El Reno that night in a motel. Then we chased northern OK and got stuck on the KS turnpike for hours on end and I dropped Eric off at the airport in KC around 330 am and found a hotel I slept in till check out time, then drove home to Michigan.

Nowadays living in Norman I'll more times than not leave for a chase day from Norman unless the target is over 6 hours away or I can meander up towards the target the day before. Like I said, I like to get reservations at Hilton branded hotels nowadays. The last few days of June I chased with Jon Stone. We got a hampton inn in Hutchinson the first night after busting in NW OK. The second day was also a bust and we stayed in Salina KS. The last day we saw a brief tornado in Western IA then drove back all night to Norman so I could go to work the next morning.

As Jason said above, keep gas in your tank. If you have a chance to stop and top off your tank, do it. You never know when you will drive 300+ miles without having a minute to stop. Use bathroom breaks when you can too.

The problem I always had driving from Michigan was trying to forecast a few days off. 4/10/2008 looked amazing 2 days out and a Day 3 MDT with talks of upgrade to HIGH risk in Arkansas. I'm not sure I even ended up in a severe thunderstorm warning that day after driving down from MI the night before. I would usually need to plan work almost a week in advance so that I could have the correct days off of the week plus padding the chase day(s) by a day to drive down and back. It's definitely more challenging, although @Adam Lucio think it gives him an edge and unfair advantage to have to drive from Chicago every setup.

 

[Drew Terril]

Word of advice mechanically. If your Grand Prix has a 3800, go ahead and change out the intake gaskets if it hasn't been done already. That's the primary issue with the 3800 V6 platform. While better than finding coolant on your oil dipstick, finding oil in your coolant tank (while not as fatal if left unchecked) is not much more pleasant. Other than the intake gasket issue, I've had absolutely no issues out of 3800s (I've owned 4 of them over the years). I averaged 30mpg or better on the highway, even with the supercharged variants. That being said, the GP should be a good, reliable long range platform. The 3800s are incredibly reliable (almost anyone who knows anything about engines considers the 3800 one of the 10 best engines of all time), and the 4T65E transmission is fine as long as you don't abuse it. I cut my teeth mechanically on the 3800s, and know them better than any other engine I've been around (that's saying something), and I'm pretty confident when I say what I've said about those engines. I've seen 3800s with 5-600,000 miles that still ran great.

On the chasing side, I'd plan to SP (Starting Point for non-military) 1-200 miles from my target when I wake up the morning of. When I'm not working 2nd shift, I'm an early riser, so being up at 0600 gives me plenty of time to analyse the data from the morning. If I'm on the far end of distance from target, I'll be on the road by 0800, and stop around 1100 to look at data again and fine tune my target. If I'm within 100 miles or so of my target, I'll look at things a little longer before hitting the road (usually no later than 0900). Either way, I'm at or very near to my target NLT 1300 (usually sooner than that). If initiation is expected earlier in the afternoon, I'll adjust my times accordingly. The scenario I gave was based on storms being expected to intiate after 1400 local time. With me currently working 2nd shift, I try to take off the day before and leave right after I get off work so I'm in that area and can reset my sleep pattern.

 

[Isaac Pato]

Can you describe a typical mutli-day chasing adventure? Let's pretend today is Saturday(shouldbeeasy), and you notice what looks like an irresistible setup coming together for Oklahoma and Kansas on Wednesday and Thursday, possibly (but a little less likely) Missouri on Friday. And....GO! What plans do you make? What time do you leave, and why? When do you aim to arrive? Do you plan fuel, food, and lodging ahead of time, partially plan these things, or just completely wing it the entire time? Around how much money have you found you can guarantee spending at least, during a chase weekend? Do you sleep somewhere on location after the final evening's work, or do you make a straight shot for home? Are there any places chasers are likely to congregate (after all the storms), or is it a spontaneous kind of thing where if you're lucky enough you might drive by the random restaurant that a bunch of people happened to pick this evening?

Today is Saturday, so I'm working with a day-5 forecast for Wednesday, so I'm not making any firm plans yet. The most I'll do is get my ducks in a row at work and try to find a potential chase partner. I won't make a decision to leave until the very last possible moment.

When doing my day-2 forecast on Tuesday, I determine that leaving home at 8am on Wednesday will not give me enough time to make it to my target by storm initiation, so I make the decision to leave on Tuesday afternoon. I try to find a hotel that lets me sleep in a bit on Wednesday, while still giving me plenty of time to make it to the target the next day (I usually try to sleep from about 1am to 8 or 9am, but that's personal preference, and sometimes I have to sacrifice a bit of sleep). I always anticipate that my target will change when I wake up the day of the chase; sometimes changes will be significant between a day 2 forecast and day 1 forecast. I don't ever get married to a chase plan, even if it means driving back the way I came!

Plans surrounding chasing are very fluid, I usually don't plan food or fuel, I just get this along the road as I go, and use gasbuddy.com to find cheap gas. I rarely book hotels in advance, instead I find a hotel that I think I might stay at, and call them to ask if they have rooms available. But I am always expecting to change lodging plans. I don't wing it completely, this is still a general structure I follow on chases.

Always make sure to fill up your tank before commencing chasing. It's also a good idea to eat lunch if at all possible. Usually you'll run into other chasers at the gas station and wherever you choose to eat.

As Wednesday's chase ends, I'll start looking at the models for Thursday, and go through similar motions for finding a hotel. I'll probably end your chase around sunset, though perhaps I'll take lightning shots for a few hours. At some point though, it'll be time to get into position for Thursday. Typically you'll be driving a shorter distance between back-to-back chase days on the plains, and will be able to get a hotel at your target.

After storms, chasers are likely to congregate at a restaurant where they can get a steak dinner to celebrate the tornado(es) that they caught earlier in the day. It's organized spontaneity, you'll recognize chaser vehicles in the parking lot.

Lastly to touch on the money question. The more chase partners you have, the cheaper it will be. You can estimate the total gas cost using Google maps, and adding a few hundred miles for chasing each day. Add about $45-$65/night for hotels, and $15-$30+ for food. Make sure you have comprehensive car insurance as well, because hitting deer or any other damage to your vehicle can add over $1000 in unexpected costs.

You'll get the hang of it after several chases. Enjoy!

What are some of those most memorable meta-experiences you've had chasing - things that made a chase special or stand-out, that don't necessarily involve getting The Video or taking a wrong turn and barely surviving The Big One?

It's the crazy things that we all say when we've been in the car all day. Or running into friends, and legendary storm chasers at a Chinese Buffet in Clinton, OK. Driving up Mt. Scott in the Wichita Mountains on a bust. Taking photos of old bridges. Taking opportunities to learn more about photography--star trails and other night photography for example.

 

[Jake Orosi]

Great replies, guys; and I hope more people will continue to contribute their thoughts as I think this particular part of "chasing" isn't talked about as much as it should be. I'd "like" all of your posts but I don't know yet if that's considered good form (I've just come back after a while away). It seems clear so far that there are many different approaches to the problem that work - I like that, it means less of a chance of finding out that a chase is incompatible with my personality I suppose (not that I was too worried about that to begin with). I also see some patterns. Seems like everybody agrees that whenever you have a minute to spare and a gas station in close proximity you should take the opportunity to top off.

Word of advice mechanically. If your Grand Prix has a 3800, go ahead and change out the intake gaskets if it hasn't been done already. That's the primary issue with the 3800 V6 platform. While better than finding coolant on your oil dipstick, finding oil in your coolant tank (while not as fatal if left unchecked) is not much more pleasant. Other than the intake gasket issue, I've had absolutely no issues out of 3800s (I've owned 4 of them over the years). I averaged 30mpg or better on the highway, even with the supercharged variants. That being said, the GP should be a good, reliable long range platform. The 3800s are incredibly reliable (almost anyone who knows anything about engines considers the 3800 one of the 10 best engines of all time), and the 4T65E transmission is fine as long as you don't abuse it. I cut my teeth mechanically on the 3800s, and know them better than any other engine I've been around (that's saying something), and I'm pretty confident when I say what I've said about those engines. I've seen 3800s with 5-600,000 miles that still ran great.

It's the 3100 actually, the LG8. A few GP owners will say that it is underpowered for the car (the Grand Prix is a heavy car) but that's not really true; it just seems underpowered compared to the 3800. It's a smidgen more friendly to the 4T65E and needs a little less than 2000RPM to keep a steady 65 on the highway. The car is the SE sedan, the base Grand Prix trim, which funnily enough for a base still comes with factory fog lamps, air, cruise, and power everything. The lot I bought it from had both it and a same-year 3800 SC. I drove them both, but ended up going with this one because the one with the 3800 had been modded out the window by some previous owner - some kind of aftermarket exhaust that rattled my teeth, gaudy-colored CAI under the hood; I don't think he put a single plastic shroud back on the engine whenever he took one off. When it comes to buying I will favor a vehicle that's as close to stock as possible, that way I can more easily tell what's wrong and what's missing. The 3100 runs like a dream, it's probably the best vehicle I've ever owned. The only serious problem it has is a bit of rust under the doors (the car came here from Illinois).

 

[Drew Terril]

Gotcha. The 3100 is a decent engine. I haven't seen the ungodly mileage totals that I have with 3800s (but then again, it's rare to see that kind of mileage on anything not a diesel), but nothing really stands out about it. Just an ordinary, pushrod V6. Still check your coolant though for oil from time to time. The 60* V6s have the same intake gasket issues that the 3800s do. I've never owned a 3100 but I've worked on a few. I was ready to blow one up over a spark plug change once LOL. It was in a 96 Monte Carlo and the spark plugs go into the head at a really funky angle compared the the 3800s that I'm used to. I had one hell of a time getting those back 3 plugs and was starting to get pissed. My friends who owned the car went and bought me a case of beer and told me to take a break, simmer down a bit and drink a few. After that, I managed to get them in but I was not amused.

I agree with buying close to stock. I mod vehicles my own way, and don't want to have to demod a vehicle I buy just so I can mod it the way I want. That being said, I wish the previous owner had put JBA headers on my Titan already LOL.

 

[Donnie Beasley]

One other thing I thought I might add is making sure you have money for toll roads. The toll in Wichita I-35 will take plastic, but others may only take cash. I-44 going towards Lawton was cash only last time I went through there.

 

[James Gustina]

One other thing I thought I might add is making sure you have money for toll roads. The toll in Wichita I-35 will take plastic, but others may only take cash. I-44 going towards Lawton was cash only last time I went through there.

So much this. Especially if you be anywhere near 44, because you'll need exact change and the auto booths don't take pennies.

I can't offer much else since I haven't had to do a long distance, multi-day run since 2012, but the best piece of advice I have is get to your target at least an hour and a half before initiation, get acclimated to the roads you'll be rolling on once things get going (especially in horrible networks like in Baylor County, TX), and ignore the hi res models once you are within sight of the Cu field.

As for my most meta experiences, watching my first explosive supercell initiation in Great Bend baking in upper 90 degree heat or my first major chaser convergence in Plainview that got me to meet a lot of people.

 

[Drew Terril]

Good call on the toll roads guys. I have a PikePass (which now works with both North Texas toll roads and the Kansas turnpike) so I never think twice about it.

 

[Mike Stropkovic Jr]

I've done two, one week long chase vacations the last couple years that sound a bit like what you're asking, so here's what I did/learned.

The final day of each chase week was pretty much just driving home to the Chicago area. You never know where you might end up, so make sure you give yourself potentially a whole day to drive home at the end. In 2013 I had issues with fuel range in my car, which culminated in a somewhat embarrassing "lost city boy" feeling when the "town" we drove to looking for gas turned out to be two barns on either side of the road. In 2014 we rented a car that got some ridiculous number of miles per tank (something like 500?), so we basically would just fuel up when we reached our target area and then not have to worry about it the rest of the day. The food and drink situation was pretty similar to what Donnie said above. Lots of dry foods like sandwiches, jerky, granola bars, pop tarts, etc, to cut down on the number of restroom breaks needed. Continental breakfasts at hotels are delicious, and usually free. We refilled empty gatorade bottles with water each night at the hotel so we didn't really need to purchase any drinks after the first day. As far as lodging, we didn't plan where to stay until after we were done chasing for the day. We'd do some quick and dirty forecasting, and if the target the next day was close, we'd pick a chain hotel right then and there. If it was a ways off, we'd call ahead and reserve one somewhere vaguely close to our target so we could do most of our driving then instead of when we were supposed to be on storms. We ended up staying at a lot of Super 8's, some of which are way nicer than others (if I recall correctly, the El Reno, OK Super 8 was the nicest).

Something I didn't anticipate was needing sunscreen. After 3 days of chasing blue sky in 2013, parts of my left side were sunburnt. It's also a good idea to bring some kind of cold weather clothing. My chase partner last year didn't have so much as a long sleeve t-shirt when it dropped into the lower 50's after the cold front passed through the day before. I managed to get by with a hooded sweatshirt. A quick side note; if your chase partner is female, make sure she's ok with urinating in a field right in front of a monster supercell that's heading towards you. It's something we didn't think would need to be considered until it did.

As for memorable moments, I can't beat chasing down my first supercell in middle-of-nowhere NE New Mexico and stumbling on a dozen other chasers when I got there. On a slight risk day, when the only truly active area was in eastern Colorado (and I only saw one report posted on here for that day), joining that group of chasers in front of the first supercell I'd ever chased really made me feel like I was one of them. Another fun moment was on one of those blue sky chase days when I visited the Hutchinson Salt Mine Museum and got to take a picture with a Dorothy prop from the movie Twister. Certainly an unexpected thing for a storm chaser to find in a salt mine when he was supposed to be chasing storms.

 

[Matt Tottle]

Good call on the toll roads guys. I have a PikePass (which now works with both North Texas toll roads and the Kansas turnpike) so I never think twice about it.

K-tags (which work on the Kansas Turnpike and OK Turnpike) are free now (for the "sticker" tags). You just sign up, put a credit card on file, and they send you up to 5 of the sticker tags. You don't have to keep a balance in the account or pay an annual fee, it just charges the card on file when you go through the tag lane..

 

[Matt Tottle]

Another fun moment was on one of those blue sky chase days when I visited the Hutchinson Salt Mine Museum and got to take a picture with a Dorothy prop from the movie Twister. Certainly an unexpected thing for a storm chaser to find in a salt mine when he was supposed to be chasing storms.

I've been to the salt mine and I didn't see Dorothy.. Where was it??

 

[Drew Terril]

K-tags (which work on the Kansas Turnpike and OK Turnpike) are free now (for the "sticker" tags). You just sign up, put a credit card on file, and they send you up to 5 of the sticker tags. You don't have to keep a balance in the account or pay an annual fee, it just charges the card on file when you go through the tag lane..

The PikePass tags are free now as well for up to 5. I have my card linked to my account, so once it dips below a certain point, it adds 40 to it. There are other options on how to manage it, but that way was easier for me.

I don't know if K-Tag works in N Texas but PikePass does. I'm covered whether I go to Kansas or Texas now that those agreements are in place. That should have been done decades ago.