Bro, do you even chase?

[joel ewing]

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?

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?

Jake, I'm reading your post a day later than most, but if I may, I'd like to weigh in and tell rookie chasers if I'm given the chance is to live or die by your own forecast. By that I mean your forecast that has been derived on your own which can certainly include input from other chasers and friends, StormTrack threads, books you've read on meteorology during the off-season, etc. etc. What I'm ultimately saying here is what you DO NOT want to do is become "a chaser-chaser". What's a chaser-chaser? It's a chaser who is so unsure of his/her own forecast and is so hell-bent on seeing a tornado that they'll simply begin following (or chasing) other well-known veteran chasers that they happen to see out in the field or perhaps follow an entity like the Doppler-on-Wheels, or tornado tour buses, etc. Nothing will validate a chaser as being a newbie loser to veteran chasers than to have the ubiquitous "chaser-chaser" tailgating his vehicle for miles, turning down every road that he turns on, including remote "not-county-maintained roads" until he finally sees the target storm or tornado. It happens a lot more than you might think...and boy, is it annoying to veterans.

 

[Matt Tottle]

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.

AFAIK it does not work in Texas yet, but considering they just added Oklahoma a few months ago it could be coming soon. Honestly I wish this crap with having 26 different toll tags would stop. They should all take EZ Pass and be done with it.

 

[Brian Hartmann]

My family visited the salt mine in Hutch a few weeks ago. Did they REALLY have to preserve that piece of cinematic 'treasure' in perpetuity?!

 

[Matt Tottle]

Oh ok so it was inside the archive section.. That was closed for whatever reason when I went.

 

[Michael Towers]

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?

This hypothetical mirrors very well my trip last week (4/8 & 4/9) so I can use that as an example of how such a scenario went down in reality. By Saturday it was apparent that the mid to latter part of the next week had potential but it was still too early to make any concrete plans. I usually can’t pull the trigger on a chase until the final 48 hours preceding the event and that’s how this one unfolded as well, by Monday it was evident that a two day setup would unfold on Wednesday and Thursday that offered potential worthwhile to chase. I kept my business schedule clear of appointments for those days and packed most of my gear into my chase vehicle Monday night. I like to get as much prepared at least a day in advance so when it comes time to go all I need to do is gather whatever few items remain and hit the road. I even have a little satchel dedicated strictly for chase trips that’s stocked with a complete set of toiletries, it not only makes packing quicker but it insures that I don’t leave without a toothbrush or other essential item. So by Monday night I was nearly packed and by Tuesday it was a matter of planning the logistics.

When should I leave? This decision alone can make or break a trip, I’ll usually leave on the same day if it allows me to depart by 5am (and I’m not an early riser!) and get to my target by 2pm. That basically gives me a range of 600 miles for a same day departure, anything longer and I’ve found that the odds of missing an event are too great and it’s better to get a start the night before and put a few hundred miles under my belt. By Tuesday the target for Wednesday was still too broad to nail down but in general I knew it would be a dryline play anywhere from SW Kansas down through western OK, therefore my best route would be down I-35 in case Kansas was the play. Since the target was well beyond my 600 mile range I’d need to leave that night so I booked a hotel room in North Kansas City, cut out of work a few hours early and hit the road. Rookie mistake there with the hotel location and luckily it didn’t cost me, whenever possible book a room at a hotel on the far side of a major city so to avoid traffic going through town the next morning. That delay can cost you dearly and in the future whenever I overnight near any big city I’ll drive a little later in the night to a hotel beyond it.

I got to the hotel around midnight and after settling into the room and checking data I determined the target the next day would be Fairveiw, OK., about 350 miles away or a little over a 5 hour drive. The next morning I reaffirmed the target and departed a little after 9am, getting to the target area with time to spare to chase the Camargo-Seiling cell. When the cell died there was a new one coming into OK which led to the decision, do I chase it or call it a day and start heading toward the next day’s target? If the next day’s target would have been within the 600 mile range or if the cell had greater potential than the next day’s target I’d have probably chased it but the cell was nothing to get excited about and the next day’s target (northern Illinois) was over 800 miles away in the opposite direction so I decided to call it quits and make plans for the night. To get within 600 miles of the target I’d need to go at least as far as Wichita, preferably farther but I was already tired so I booked a room in Andover for the night and started the 200+ mile drive. The location got me past Wichita and I arrived around 11pm, early enough to wind down and still get a few hours sleep. As it turned the fatigue from all the driving I’d done caught up with me and I slept later than planned. With my target so far away the margin for error was very slim and that extra sleep did cost me, while I still made the next day’s storm an extra 15 minutes would have made a huge difference in my experience. Time is very precious so always try to give yourself a cushion, a mere 15 minutes has cost me dearly on multiple occasions.

Fuel costs were about $250, when driving the long haul I stretch it out until my tank gets under 1/8. When I get to a target area I fill up if possible so I start the chase with a full tank. Food cost me less than $20, I brought along snacks and ate breakfast each morning at the hotel. That’s usually my only meal of the day when I chase but if I’m hungry at the end of the day I’ll grab a bite somewhere. I stay almost exclusively at either Hampton Inn or Holiday Inn Express, both nights this trip were HIE with a cost of about $250.

The total trip was over 1700 miles, total cost over $500 but usually a two day chase takes up three days so in those cases add another $125 for a hotel and at least another $75 for fuel for a cost of $700. If I can get home by 2am I’ll usually head home, otherwise I’ll book a hotel and drive back the next day. This trip only took 2 days because my last chase ended up less than 40 miles from home.

I hope that helps with your questions, if you get out this year good luck and stay safe!

 

[Jake Orosi]

Excellent! That's exactly the kind of information I was looking for, thanks.

 

[Stan Rose]

I don't get this chasing for tornado stuff...I chase to eat chicken fried steaks. My goal is to eat chicken fried steak at every restaurant in every dinky town from Texas to North Dakota. I then rate the CFS by it's appropriate EF rating (EF-0 through EF-5) Most CFS are EF-0 of course, but I inflate my chase success by generally starting with low end EF-1. If I actually see a tornado (very rare) then I treat myself to real steak. My favorite celebratory place is the Rusty Barrel in Ponca City OK (EF-4...but on a good day you can score EF-5)

 

[joel ewing]

I don't get this chasing for tornado stuff...I chase to eat chicken fried steaks. My goal is to eat chicken fried steak at every restaurant in every dinky town from Texas to North Dakota. I then rate the CFS by it's appropriate EF rating (EF-0 through EF-5) Most CFS are EF-0 of course, but I inflate my chase success by generally starting with low end EF-1. If I actually see a tornado (very rare) then I treat myself to real steak. My favorite celebratory place is the Rusty Barrel in Ponca City OK (EF-4...but on a good day you can score EF-5)

Haha....oh Stan..... I hear 'ya loud and clear, my friend. I can tell we're kindred spirits. Instead of Chicken Fried Steak, my hot-button is my sweet-tooth. When I'm in the alley, I try mightily to find cool, old-school ma+pa restaurants / diners. Because of fast-food restaurants and society's eating habits.....these have almost vanished completely off of the horizon. I'm a native Nebraskan who was forced to move from my beloved Nebraska at age 7 in 1961 to Arizona due to a brother's extreme asthma. Each spring when I'm in the alley, I'm not only chasing storms but chasing my childhood as well. Back when I was a kid, ma+pa restaurants were everywhere. Fast food didn't really exist yet. Much like Stan and his Chicken-Fried-Steak....I'm in Heaven on Earth when I discover a killer little restaurant that still has homemade cakes and pies. I AM a cake-a-holic. Phillipsburg Kansas did have a place with the best pies ever, not sure if it's there anymore..... and in St. Paul Nebraska (just north of Grand Island) there is a time-warp of a little sugar-infused restaurant that's in an ancient building one of those old school brick streets. Now THAT'S what I'm talkin' about! When I walk in, 50 years burns off of me and I'm a little kid once again! A little kid with no parents around to tell him he can't have dessert! See....to me....these are some of the magnificent gems that we all can seek out and enjoy while we're out chasing and have a little time on our hands. Certainly, bagging a tornado will always be "Plan A" for me....but having "Plans B-C-D and E" tucked up your sleeve when you hit a short string of blue-sky days 1500 miles from home keeps a chaser from being so grumpy. It'll keep you sane and much happier....and you'll find those blue-sky days go by much quicker!

 

[Jake Orosi]

Where I'm from, we call it "country fried steak". It sounds better than "chicken fried steak", and parses better - but I also refuse to say "chicken fried steak" anymore, ever since a trip to the local grocery store when in one of the open freezers I saw, right next to the bags of "chicken fried steak", a brand of frozen fried chicken breasts, labeled "chicken fried chicken". No, seriously: chicken fried chicken. Are you kidding me???

 

[Patrick Martin]

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?

The bulk of my chasing is done in a 12-14 day chasecation with my chase partner. What time we leave depends on where we need to go. We will try and plan to be in our target area by lunch or early afternoon. It's not uncommon for us to hang around for 2-3 hours as it gives us time to crunch on data, refine our target if necessary, and watch things unfold. We have been late in the past (and present), and try to keep that to a minimum. In the past we have used my personal daily driver which would get up to 500 miles on a tank. Usually our plan for gas is to start the day with a full tank, and once in our target area top off, and we have generally been good to go on fuel until the next morning, even if we have had to drive several hours after a chase. Hotels for us are generally are Hampton Inn or Holiday Inn Express as it is vacation for us and we are splitting the cost of a room, and they have a reliable breakfast the next morning. We try to reserve by late afternoon based on current day and projected target the next day. Although we base out of my house in the Denver area, we will generally stay in a hotel if we are 3 or more hours away, or if our target will take right back to where we are, or further the next day. In 2014 we had 10 of a possible 12 nights in a hotel. We don't limit our range during our trip. One word of caution, be aware that hotels can sometimes be a challenge and require advance planning in certain areas. For example. North Platte NE seems to be the center of the universe in June. More than once we have had problems trying to get a room.

I will echo what Joel said about not being a chaser chaser. You don't want to be "that person" following around tour vans, the DOW, or other chasers without permission. Avoid the temptation to use Spotter Network to find people or make chase decisions. Chatting it up prior to initiation at a convergence is not uncommon and sometimes happens during a chase. Working off your own forecast is the hardest, but also one of the most rewarding thing you can do.

One of my standout dates for me was not the common "epic" day. 6/12/12 was a challenging forecast day with a very broad slight risk with no definitive target. We departed Denver at 6am headed for the OK panhandle. As the morning progressed a lot of questions and doubt crept in where and when storms would fire and what quality they would be. We decided to continue south past our target into east central NM. Mid afternoon we stopped in Clovis NM and waited and waited and waited at a gas station. We saw chasers come and go, chatted with a few, but stayed put. After several hours we moved west to check out a blip on radar. It ultimately became a wonderfully photogenic storm with many other chasers around, and was the only tornado warned storm in the country that day. We stayed with it into the evening until we rolled into Lubbock at 2am. A challenging, sometimes boring, sometimes ridiculously fun, sometimes filled with doubt day, but one where diligence and staying with our forecast decisions paid dividends.